#whoa productive jay
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Congratulations on Not Dying (Happy Birthday, Chris!) [Chapter Three]
Summary: This is Part Sixteen of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.
Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)
Rating: Teen and Up
Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Christopher Herrmann/Cindy Herrmann, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, pre-Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz/Original Female Character, pre-Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes, Assorted OC Couples
Warnings: Language, Light Angst, People Making Bad Decisions, Referenced Domestic Violence
A/N: To underscore my previous note, this is an alternate universe so things have unfolded differently. This will not follow the canon arc exactly by any means. But I hope you'll still enjoy it!
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Bex
“The reinforcements have arrived,” Adam declared, spreading his arms wide as he strode into the backyard, Kevin and Mouse following closely behind.
“You guys, thank you so much for coming,” Bex said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Mouse stepped up and bumped his arm against hers with a little crooked grin.
“Where do you need us?” Kevin asked as he pulled Otis in for a one-armed bro hug and Bex gave them a quick overview before pointing out the trampoline.
“That’s going to take the longest,” she said. “So, I think we should start with it?”
“Whoa, cool!” Adam launched himself on top of it in two steps and bounced around lightly. “Sure we have to take this down?”
“Yes!” Bex laughed. She pointed a finger at the other three who looked like they were itching for their own turn. “We need the room. Come on—off, off, off!”
Adam hopped down with a pout and Bex could feel herself weakening. Her phone chose that moment to start buzzing and she shot them a look. “One person bounces at a time and make sure everyone gets a turn. I’m going to take this and then we’re cleaning up.”
She chuckled at the whispered chorus of ‘yes’ as she pulled out her phone and frowned down at the name before answering.
“Hey, Matt! How’s it going?”
“Hey, Bex,” Matt said, drawing out the ‘hey’ in a way that had her heart sinking. “There’s an accident up ahead so I think we’re stuck here for a little while.”
“Stuck?” All four guys looked over at her in concern. “For how long? Can you get off the highway?”
“Trying to,” Matt sighed. “We’re going to take the next exit, but traffic’s barely moving. I think it’ll take us at least half an hour to get to it.”
And they hadn’t even made it to the party place yet. “Okay…okay,” Bex said, swallowing back the urge to ask a million more questions. Matt couldn’t predict how long it would all take, but she knew he’d do his best to make sure they got back as quickly as possible. She trusted him. “I’m so sorry you guys got stuck. I owe you big time.”
“Just feed us when we get back,” Kelly yelled in the background.
“Deal,” Bex agreed with a smile. “Keep me posted, please.”
“Will do.” Matt said as he ended the call.
The guys had caught enough of the conversation that she didn’t have to rehash everything for them and they were quick to reassure her.
“There’s still plenty of time,” Adam said, grabbing her shoulder in a comforting squeeze. “The four of them should be able to load quickly and the trip back will be fast.”
“You know Casey and Severide’ll handle it,” Otis said. “Let’s make sure this place is ready to go once they get here.”
They were right. She’d wasted enough time freaking out today. Taking a deep breath, Bex shook it off and refocused. “Let’s do this.”
Tackling the trampoline was short work between the five of them. Once it was safely stored away, Adam and Kevin moved the playhouse while Mouse and Otis started taking down the hammock. Bex was working on gathering up the toys when her phone buzzed again.
This time it was Gabi. Their regular supplier was closed. She and Stella had already been to three other places trying to source booze for the party. “We still have other places to check though,” Gabi said. “I just wanted to let you know why we were taking so long.”
“You think you’ll be able to find a place though?”
“Absolutely,” Gabi said.
“We’ll raid Molly’s if we have to,” Stella chimed in and Gabi laughed.
Bex shook her head and huffed out a little laugh, catching the look Otis was sending her. “Yeah, I don’t think Chris would appreciate stock from Molly’s being sacrificed for his party.”
Otis’s eyebrows went sky high.
“Last resort,” Gabi declared. “Seriously, Bex, don’t worry. We’ll find a place. We’re on it!”
Bex stared at her phone after Gabi said bye and reminded herself that she was being chill.
A phone buzzed again, but this time it wasn’t hers.
Otis pulled his phone out of his pocket with a quiet apology and answered it. He stepped away to have a hushed conversation that kept increasing in its intensity. The call ended abruptly and Otis cursed quietly before turning back to her.
“So, that was my cousin,” Otis began.
“Your cousin who is in charge of the music for the party?” Bex asked, willing the answer to be something along the lines of ‘yes and he’s totally on time with no issues whatsoever’.
“Yeah,” Otis said slowly. “Turns out he’s sick, but—” Otis flung out a hand, stepping closer when Bex started rubbing at her forehead.
“But he has a replacement lined up,” Otis said. “The only problem is that he needs me to come and pick up the equipment and give his replacement a ride.”
“Oh,” Bex straightened up, pleasantly surprised to hear an immediate solution. “That’s great. Do you need anyone to go with you?”
“Nooo,” Otis said, voice going a bit weirdly high at the end there. “No, I’ve got it. No worries. I’ll head out now. Be back in a bit. See you.” He scooted up the back steps to the house and was out of sight in seconds.
Yeah.
There was definitely more to that story, but Bex was not asking questions.
And now her phone was going off again.
“We’ll keep going with this stuff,” Mouse said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the last of the kids’ stuff littering the yard. She nodded gratefully and answered the call.
“Sylvie? You okay?”
“I’m so sorry, Bex, I got the lights and everything, but my car broke down and now I’m stuck and I’m waiting for a tow and it’s taking forever and—”
“Sylvie, breathe,” Bex interrupted her and waiting until she heard her take a few breaths. “First of all, are you okay? Are you safe?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Sylvie said. “I was able to pull off the road as soon as my car started making that noise. I’m in a coffee shop parking lot.”
“Okay, good,” Bex said, glad to hear at least one crisis had been averted. “Text me the address and we’ll figure out who can meet you so you have a ride once the tow truck arrives.”
After a few more rounds of apologies, they ended the call and Sylvie’s text with the address came through. “Hey, guys?” she called out to Adam and Kev. “Would you mind going to pick up Sylvie?”
“Sylvie?” Kevin perked up. “She okay?”
“Yeah, her car broke down and—oh, my god!” Bex pressed a hand against her mouth.
“What?” Kevin dropped the kiddie clubs he’d been gathering and jogged over with Adam and Mouse.
“I forgot about the cake,” she gasped. “Someone needs to go pick up the cake!”
The three of them sagged in relief. “No problem,” Kevin said. “We’ll go get Sylvie and pick up the cake on the way back. We’ve got this.” He held up his hand for a fist bump, raising an eyebrow at her until she bumped back.
“I’ll send you the addresses,” she said, forwarding Sylvie’s text to him and adding the location of the bakery. “The order’s under my name and it’s paid for so all you have to do is pick it up.”
The two of them nodded and headed out. Bex watched them leave and then buried her hands in her hair, sighing up at the sky.
Was that…
Don’t even think about it, Bex thought as she glared up at the grey looking clouds.
***
Adam
Adam and Kevin checked in with the kitchen crew to see how things were going.
“Anyone mentioned the forecast to Bex yet?” he asked as he attempted to sneak a slice of red pepper and got his hand smacked by Sergeant Platt for his efforts.
“No,” a whole chorus of voices answered him.
“Okay, then.” Guess they were crossing that bridge when they came to it. In the meantime, they had a paramedic to rescue and a cake to pick up.
***
Bex
A thought occurred to Bex at that moment.
“You’re here,” she said to Mouse.
“That I am,” he replied with a cute little smile that she was not going to be distracted by at this moment.
“You’re here and Kevin and Adam and Trudy are here,” she said, watching as Mouse tilted his head in question at her, waiting for him to follow her line of thought. “Kim is out with her sister and Anthony is with his kids, but they're both coming to the party later.”
“Okay,” Mouse said slowly.
“Intelligence isn’t on shift today,” Bex continued, trying to keep the sharpness out of her voice because Mouse wasn’t the one it needed to be directed at. “None of you are so what the heck is Jay doing at work?”
“Uhhh…”
“That’s what I thought.” She grabbed her phone and stabbed at her brother’s contact. “Are you even working?” she demanded as soon as he picked up.
“Bex, what—”
She forged ahead, not letting Jay fumble his way through any excuses.
“I needed your help today, Jay,” she said. “Everything’s falling apart. Will got called in—”
“Will’s not there?” Jay sounded surprised which…why? He’d expected her to fall for the same excuse.
“Yes, he actually had to help out at his job today,” she snapped. “But you’d know that if you were here. And you’d know that the venue cancelled so we have to make all of the food and get the drinks and the tables and the decorations and—”
Bex lowered her phone, clenched tightly in her hand and did a slow count to three. He hadn’t known about any of this. He clearly still needed space.
Even though she’d needed him.
Two things could both be true and all that crap.
The faint sound of Jay calling her name came through her phone speaker and she lifted it back up. “Are you still able to get the balloons at least?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah, of course,” Jay said.
“You know the order,” she said because Jay had helped her plan all of this even if he was dipping out now. “We’re setting up at Chris and Cindy’s now so get here when you can.”
“Bex—”
Mouse gently took the phone out of her hand before she could hang up on her brother. “Let me.”
She let him do whatever it was he needed to do and took a lap of the yard to settle herself. She could hear Mouse talking softly over on the patio, catching enough to know he was filling him in on the many roadblocks of their day.
“Okay, bye,” Mouse said and headed over to pass her the phone. “He’s going now to get the balloons.”
“That’s something I guess,” she said. Mouse shot her a careful look, clearly weighing anything he said next and Bex scrubbed a hand down her face with a groan. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being a menace about this party.”
“You’re not that bad,” Mouse chuckled. “Trust me.”
“I do,” Bex said. “You’re in charge of making sure I don’t go beast mode over this thing.”
Mouse tilted his head thoughtfully. “Is it terrible if I’d kind of like to see that?”
“Yes,” Bex laughed, feeling a bit lighter already.
Second wind. Let’s go.
***
Jay
Mouse was there.
Helping Bex get ready for the party.
Talking on her phone.
With everything that had gone down with Chris and then the case and then Erin, Jay had been distracted. But now the issue was right smack in the middle of his face again.
Something was going on between Mouse and Bex.
His best friend and his sister.
His sister who was also one of his best friends, really.
Had they even thought this through? What happened when it all fell apart?
What would their family look like if the two of them imploded and couldn’t even be in the same room together anymore?
He knew they were friends. Good friends. And he loved that. Hanging out with their whole gang was awesome, but hanging out with Mouse and Bex was the best. The fact that they could add Will into the mix now was even better.
They didn’t even know what they were risking.
Maybe he could nudge them. Help them understand what they were walking into before it got too far. Share what he’d learned from experience.
He was pretty sure he could get through to them before things went sideways.
Plan beginning to form, Jay gathered up his stuff and headed downstairs.
Upton was at the desk chatting with the desk sergeant.
“Hey!” she smiled at him. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have party business or something?”
“How do you know about that?” He knew Bex invited her, but—
“Bex told me the whole plan at Molly’s the other night,” Upton explained. “She was very excited.”
Jay felt a complicated wave of affection for his sister and regret for how much he’d punked out of today. “Uh, yeah,” he said. “I’ve got to go pick up balloons.”
“Need some help?” she offered and that wasn’t a half bad idea.
Bex wanted what was probably more balloons than one person could wrangle.
“That would be great actually,” Jay said, waving her forward. “Did you drive?”
“Nah, I decided to walk today and enjoy the weather while it lasts,” Upton said. “Hopefully your party doesn’t get rained out.”
“Don’t even say that.” Jay’s eyes widened. “Bex’ll hear you.”
“Yeah, okay.” Her laughter trailed off when he didn’t crack. “Okay! I take it back!”
“I’m gonna uninvite you,” he warned, finally breaking into a grin.
“Didn’t realize this party business was going to be so intense,” she said as they climbed into his truck.
“You’re about to get a crash course in how we do things around here.” Jay smirked at her and peeled out of the parking lot.
***
Hailey
Working in Intelligence had been an…interesting experience so far.
She’d worked closely with a partner before. Been a part of a team.
Never one as entangled as the Intelligence crew seemed to be though.
From what she’d gathered, one of the former detectives was a pseudo-daughter to Voight and had been dating Halstead. Ruzek had a father-son thing going with Olinsky and an on-again, off-again think with Burgess.
As far as she could tell it was on again.
Halstead and Mouse were basically brothers and Atwater and Ruzek were tight. Burgess had been partners with Atwater before too so they had a special bond.
It went on with history after history.
And that didn’t even include the connections with the staff at Med and Station 51.
It was like she’d joined a very intense and involved extended family.
And solved crimes with some of them.
She was still working out how she felt about it all, but she didn’t think she hated it.
She’d see how things went with this party business first.
“You ever date a friend before?” Halstead asked her suddenly.
See?
Entangled.
Hailey took a minute to figure out how to answer that question without revealing too much. “Why are you asking?”
Halstead shifted in his seat, keeping his eyes firm on the road. “Call it research, I guess,” he said. “Verify that it’s a bad idea.”
“For yourself?” she guessed.
He chuckled darkly. “No, I got it plenty verified for myself,” he said. “I just—” They stopped at the next red light and he glanced over at her. “Keep this between us?”
She nodded. Keeping things close was something she’d learned early and used often.
“You know Mouse, right?” Halstead said. “I think he and my sister are circling around something and—and there’s no way that’s going to end well, you know what I mean?”
Hailey hummed, aiming for a non-answer on that minefield of a question.
“You disagree?” Halstead shot her a quick look, raising an eyebrow.
“I think it’s the kind of thing you let people figure out for themselves,” she said. “People need to make their choices and they don’t usually appreciate you declaring them a mistake before they’ve even made them.”
This time he hummed in response and she let it drop when he didn’t say anything further.
“So, what’s the story with Molly’s,” she asked, aiming for less risky territory. “How did it become the official bar for everyone?”
“My brother Chris owns it with a few other firefighters,” Halstead said with a little grin.
“Ah.” She nodded, picturing who he meant. “The Chris this party is for, right?” She’d heard about what he’d been through and didn’t blame them for wanting to celebrate.
“That’s the one,” Halstead said as he pulled into the parking lot of a party store that sat at the end of a small strip. He nodded at a coffee shop next too it. “Order balloons and then grab a drink? On me?”
“Sounds good.” She hopped out of the truck and started following him to the store’s entrance. A loud voice caught her attention. There, a few cars over, was a tall blond guy was berating a young woman. Her wavy hair was covering her face as she shied away from him.
“See that?” she asked Halstead and he peered over at the couple.
The guy jerked on the girl’s arm and her hair fell away as she looked up at him, murmuring apologies. Halstead suddenly stiffened beside her. “What’s up?”
“I know her,” he said.
***
Jay
Emery.
Bex’s friend who had got caught up with a dirtbag boyfriend and kept falling in deeper. He knew Bex and her friends kept trying to reach out and help, but sometimes—most times—there were no magic words.
Emery had to be the one to decide to be ready.
But like he told Bex, that didn’t mean you stopped trying.
“Do me a favour?” he asked Upton as he watched the dirtbag storm into the coffee shop, leaving Emery alone by the car. “I don’t want to risk him seeing me talking to her, but you could pretend to be asking for directions.”
“Going to fill me in?” she asked him.
“Later, but I want to do this now.”
She nodded for him to keep going.
“Give her your card,” he said. “A clean one if you have it. Tell her that you’re a friend of Bex’s and that you can get in touch with her if she needs it. Remind her she has people ready to help, you know?”
Jay reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing over two twenties. “Emergency money,” he said. “For a cab. To get to Bex’s or the station. Whatever she can do. Whenever.”
Upton nodded and reached into her own wallet for a blank card. One with only her first name and number. Every cop knew there were plenty of situations where having their title listed wasn’t exactly helpful.
She took the cash and he gave her a small, grateful smile before stepping back behind the truck. Keeping out of sight, but keeping an eye out through the windows.
He watched as she made her way over and approached Emery, pointing out at the road to maintain the directions cover story in case the dirtbag happened to look out the window of the coffee shop. Upton kept talking to Emery until the girl gave her the smallest nod and Upton discreetly passed her the card and cash.
Upton walked away then, heading into the party supply store while Emery sagged against the car. He watched for a few more minutes until the guy came out of the store—Ty, that was his name. Ty barked at her to get into the car and they drove off.
Jay sighed. It wasn’t nothing and maybe this time, it would be something.
He walked into the store where Upton was waiting for him. “My sister’s friend,” he explained. “Been tangled up with that guy for awhile and Bex has been trying to get her out. Figured we might as well take another run at it.”
Upton nodded at him, something unreadable in her eyes. “It’s good,” she finally said. “That you’re trying. It’s good.”
Didn’t ever feel like enough though, Bex was right about that.
“Let’s get those balloons,” he said instead and they made their way to the back counter.
A lanky teenager was standing there looking bored. Jay took in the red-rimmed eyes and spacey gaze and exchanged a look with Upton who was already smirking.
“I need to place a special order,” Jay said, stepping up to look at the colours on display on the board behind the kid.
“How special are we talking?” the kid drawled, focusing in on him finally and…wait.
Dammit.
Bex was going to kill him.
“How special are you talking?” Jay countered.
The kid stared at him for a moment, wheels clearly, painfully turning in his brain. “Are you here for…balloons?”
For the love of—
“What else would I be here for?” Jay snapped out, placing his badge on the counter.
The kid stared down at his badge, looked up at Jay, and down at the badge again.
Then he fucking booked it.
Jay watched him race toward the front entrance and sighed as he and Upton took off after him.
“Do you think we can make him do the balloon order before taking him in?”
***
Cindy
The zoo had been a hit, but the kids were at their limit and she still had a few hours to kill before they could go home. Christopher was making noises about calling up Bex or Mouch and she needed to nip that in the bud right now.
“Who wants to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house?” she called out and the kids all cheered.
“Really, Cinds?” he murmured to her. “On my birthday?”
“I didn’t say we were going there,” she whispered back. “We’re just dropping them off.”
A hurried explanation to her mother had the kids all square away and left her free to put the second part of her plan in motion. She swiped the keys out of Christopher’s hand on the way to the van.
“I’m driving, birthday boy,” she said.
“Bossy,” Chris said as he ambled after her. “I like it.”
He futzed with the radio as she drove, settling on a classic rock station and serenading her while she drove. Soon they were at a familiar destination.
“Hey, I know this place,” Chris said, looking out the window at the secluded area she’d parked in, surrounded by beautifully leafy trees. “We used to come here to make out back in high school.”
“We did,” Cindy agreed, waiting for it to click.
Chris slowly turned to look at her, eyes going wide as his eyebrows raced for his hairline.
She nodded at him.
“Here?” He whispered, a giggle sneaking out. “Right now?”
“Happy Birthday, sweetheart.”
“I knew you were planning something,” he said, undoing his seatbelt with a flourish and reaching over to hit the button on hers. “My wife is a genius.”
“Don’t you forget it,” Cindy grinned as she leaned in.
***
T-minus five hours to the party.
***
Sylvie
Ruzek and Atwater—Kevin, she whispered to herself—showed up right on time. The tow trunk driver had just finished loading up her car and was about to take it to the garage.
“My heroes,” she said and Ruzek did a little bow while Kevin grinned at her.
“Happy to be of service,” Kevin said.
“Let’s go get that cake before Bex implodes,” Adam said as he ushered her toward his car.
They helped relieve her of some of the bags she was carrying with all of the supplies she’d picked up and deposited them in the trunk.
Everything seemed to be getting back on track until they got to the bakery.
“The order is under Rebecca Herrmann,” Sylvie said again. “It’s all paid for. It should be ready.”
“And I’m saying there’s nothing here,” the girl at the counter said.
“Just a second.” She turned away and tried to send the least alarming text she could to Bex.
Do you have proof of your payment? They need to see it.
Bex sent a picture of her receipt moments later. It listed the cake style and said paid in full.
“See?” Sylvie showed the girl her phone.
The girl—Stef, her name tag read—squinted at the receipt number and typed a few things into her computer. “Okay,” she said. “I’ve found the record of the payment, but somehow the order itself was lost.”
Oh, no.
“So, what do we do?”
“I have this flavour of slab cake in the back,” Stef said. “It’ll take me about twenty minutes, but I can get it decorated for you.” She slapped a form down on the counter. “Write down what you want it to say and I’ll go get started.”
Ruzek grabbed the paper and a pen from the counter as she walked off. He scribbled something down, chuckling to himself.
Kevin leaned over and read it. “You best be changing that if you don’t want Bex to murder you,” he said, shaking his head.
Sylvie took a peek and shot him a look because seriously? “Too soon,” she frowned at him.
“I bet you ten bucks Herrmann laughs,” Ruzek said.
“Again, Herrmann is not the one you should be worried about in this scenario,” Kevin said.
“Alright fine.” Ruzek put a line through what he’d written and wrote out ‘Happy Birthday, Chris!’ underneath it. “Happy?”
“Happy to not be playing with fire?” Kevin asked. “Yes.”
Stef returned and picked up the paper, reading it over. “You want it exactly like this?”
“Yup,” Ruzek said, dropping the pen back in the cup by the register. “Please and thanks.”
“Okay, then.” She waved them off. “Come back in twenty.”
“Come on,” Kevin said. “There’s a diner across the street. We can grab a coffee.”
Sylvie agreed happily. She could use one after the day they’d had already.
Felt like they’d just dodged a bullet.
She still had to fess up to Bex about the delay though.
***
Bex
She stared down at her phone.
A massive screw up with the cake that apparently was on its way to being fixed.
She’d believe it when she saw it actually arrive.
And now Jay was delayed because the balloon store guy was a drug dealer?
What else could possibly happen on this cursed day?
Oh, shit.
“I didn’t mean it,” Bex said, looking up at the sky and whatever gods might be listening.
A raindrop hit her face.
Click here for Chapter Four
Click here for Chapter Five
Click here to read Congratulations on Not Dying (Happy Birthday, Chris!) on ao3:
And here is the tag list (let me know if you wish to be added or removed):
@sorry-i-spaced, @iunnowatuwant, @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived, @ivyalmighty, @thewannabewriter, @lexhalstead3, @multifandomgrl08, @foxes-and-cats, @sensitivemallysix,
#chicago fire#chicago med#chicago pd#one chicago#christopher herrmann#jay halstead#will halstead#halstead brothers#oc character#rebecca 'bex' herrmann#halstead sister#found family#team as family#alternate universe#not canon#not beta read#my first fanfic series#A Herrmann/Halstead Production#light angst#low self esteem#bad decisions#sibling conflict
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Blog 6 Writing, Reading, Listening and Learning
Felt alright this week, and it went by quick. Went to the pool, it was really nice, and I hope it stays open longer. Been working on Fallen Angel and Ozymanzous. The hard part about writing sometimes it getting everything to fit, plot and motivations wise. Also having a draft where you just put every snippet you think of in the order you think of it, while it's important to write stuff down when you have an idea, disorganization can be so distracting.
Playing video games less. One of my mods on Stardew broke. Listening to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon music now, frustrated there's so many games and OSTs it's hard to find the one I want.
Happy September.
I've been reading again, I'm reading "Listen to the Marriage" by John Jay Osborn and trying to take notes as if it wasn't a fictional novel. But, a novel could be just as well since it's for Fallen Angel, it can show pacing and stuff for an audience. A lot of books like this are about the person being counseled, and so will mine, but it makes the therapist look really simple, the way a middleschooler views their history teacher and can't imagine having multiple periods of classes. A lot of middleschool teachers are careful to have their classes synched exactly, I'm sure, but in small schools you will be teaching 6, 7, and 8 which means 3 completely different courses. This is what therapists do, right down to the glorified baby-sitter part, except probably 6 courses. Osborn's story only exists for an hour each week in her office, all she thinks about is the couple she's working with (whoa re unreliable narrators) and her grief for her mother. Which is probably enough to have on your plate. Locked-door stories are interesting. I also started watching this series about a seriously Freudian guy (what's the point of harping on mommy-issues, can I fix it now, can I change the past?) reacting, sorry, he's not some guy he's a therapist, reacting to Showtime's Couple Therapy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUItaloRvoQ Also a note to content creators, hyperlink your links, you will see more clicks. The problem with all my studying, of course, is, it's fake dating and fantasy, it doesn't really matter what the wizard asks, they're not going to get a straight answer, only poke holes in a silly lie. I wonder if real therapists ever get rich people just taking the piss. I think there was a fake dating couple counseling movie, but the closest to a book I've seen is The Rosie Effect, where he gets his friend to pretend to be his spouse for counseling-in-leui-of-jail because telling her about all of it would "stress her out too much" and it's a captivating train-wreck. I would tell them to renew their vows if I thought they'd just met at a bar. The problem is, if they're not taking the piss but rather lying to each other, or not listening, making up a double-life, covering up a double-life, or just are that un-intimate that they don't seem to know each other well, they will think you are an un-serious therapist who cannot help real people.
I'm having a problem with my plan to stop unhauling books that I haven't read: I'm about full-up on books, I still shop a little, and if I move soon I cannot move ALL of these things. Reblogging a post about "you don't have to be "productive" just read to enjoy your spare time" but but but. I read physical. I have a little room for this floating stack, but I don't know how to organize it. I started rereading my favorite book from last year, Woman no. 17, one of the few books I've read but kept.
I also started "Intro to Stoicastic Modeling 3rd edition" which boasts that this edition is more in-depth and less intro-y than the others, which is annoying to me because I don't know how to read textbooks and now you're telling me I should track down edition 1? Anyways, I was sort of thinking about sociology (you hear stochastic in the news when it's discussing motives for man-made violence) then I was afraid it would be that chemistry thing stoiciometry, but it's really the study of all random relationships that influence each other, it boasts it's about math, sociology, psychology, and business leadership. The first example is about cheating at flip-a-coin. If anyone has tips for reading a textbook as an adult, let me know. Probably "just pretend it's a 200 page science/technology book."
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en-log
"hello engene!" eunji started the video waving cutely and beaming to the camera. she's currently sitting at the back seat of the car.
[today is my healing day!♥]
"today, i'm going to make some aesthetic plates for myself! as you all know, i really enjoy pottery and i even consider it as my hobby. so i'll bring you today with me on making a ceramic jewelry dish. lechugo!"
[en-log!]
[i already arrived at the pottery workshop!]
"first things first, i'll choose my desired color and design of my jewelry tray before actually doing it, of course." she chuckled.
[so excited!]
eunji started choosing her clay and model for her tray. she chose one of her favorite color, purple. "i'm planning to make a plate for my accessories so it should be just small."
she prepared the other necessary materials and started to roll out the slab of clay.
"i actually already made ceramic products for the members, some of them are using it well and used it as a display while some just forgot about it. i'm fine." eunji said and did a fake laugh.
[you know who you are :)]
"if you know who you are, be guilty. i'll just pour out here all my resentment, anger and shame." she laughed as she indirectly teased jay.
[don't show this to jay please]
when she finished rolling the slab, she starts draping the slab over the mold carefully. "i think i already did pottery for about seven times but i still never did it with a member due to our schedules."
"next time, i'll try to do pottery with atleast one member." eunji continued draping the slab then added some designs.
"oh, by the way, a lot of engenes are requesting me and ni-ki to paint together but to be honestly, i'm really not good at drawing unlike dad and my brothers. maybe i inherited it to my mom." she chuckled as she dissed her mom.
[the important thing here is i love you mom]
she next did cutting off the excess clay. and she was too focused at that time.
"i'm currently finding new thing to do and the first thing that crossed my mind was figure skating. i never tried it before and i want it to do with the members. especially sunghoon and heeseung oppa, they are so good at it."
after cutting off the excess, she starts to do the final steps which is to smooth the edges and then leave it to dry.
"i'm finally done! ha…" eunji stretched her arms after doing pottery for almost two hours.
"look at my finished work. isn't it beautiful? whoa! it's super pretty! i'll definitely use this for several months." she proudly showed the jewelry dish made by her.
[en-log!]
[i'm tired from doing pottery so i'm hungry]
"it's already 1:43 pm and my stomach are craving for something sweet, i need some energy." eunji chuckled while walking down the streets.
"i'll try to call jake because he said that he's just nearby." she did try to call jake and after only one dial, he answered it. they had a small conversation before hanging up with each other's line.
"jake said he'll join me to eat snacks, he will come later. we decided to eat bingsu since i'm craving for sweets and i need some energy."
[en-log!]
"hi everyone!" jake greeted at the camera.
eunji and him are talking to each other while waiting for their orders. "i did pottery today." eunji shared.
"oh, really? can i see it?" jake asked and she immediately showed him the tray she made.
"woah! it's pretty! the food plate you made for layla, she's still using it." jake said.
[layla's the best!]
"oh, really? layla's still using my gift while ni-ki forgot about the plate." eunji laughed through the pain.
"jay too. hahaha!" jake exposed their member.
[oops]
eunji and jake started to eat their foods when when their orders finally came. they talked about what they did that day, their common interests, the members and their schedule. eunjake might be the most underrated ship in enhypen but their friendship is most purest of them all.
"that was delicious! we'll come back here again for sure." jake said when they finished their foods and eunji agreed to it.
[yes, that's for sure]
[en-log!]
"woah, i enjoyed a lot today. i wish engenes enjoyed as well. i did pottery earlier which is my current favorite thing to do and i got to eat delicious bingsu together with jake. that was definitely a great day for me and i hope you also have a great day today. until next time, bye!" eunji waved and smiled brightly at the camera while in the car.
[end of vlog!]
#enhypen au#enhypen imagines#enhypen female member#enhypen 8th member#enhypen ff#enhypen scenarios#enhypen added member
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Snoh Aalegra Reinterprets Her Feels with Rhythm n’ Blues in ‘- Ugh, those feels again’
Feels; they have a way about them. Popular rhetoric surrounding “feels” often urges us to resist them. Though concurrently beautiful and treacherous, our feels are the base of human connection and when they go, you can most certainly expect their shameless return… but is that really a bad thing?
Perhaps when it comes to “feels,” we need go no further than tapping into Iranian-Swedish R&B legend-in-the-making, Snoh Aalegra’s latest album - Ugh, those feels again (Aug 16). A continuation of her freshman project, FEELS circa 2017, Aalegra expands on the life altering love that FEELS was based on, but from a different, more mature-perspective.
Executive produced by iconic producer, No I.D. (Jay-Z, Kanye West, J. Cole), - Ugh, those feels again is a true testament to the R&B greats of the ‘90s and ‘00s while offering a forward-looking perspective on the genre. Sonically, the production feels unified and purposeful. Though each track offers various musical angles, the overall vibe is like a sharpened dream, woozy but crisp. The bass is grounding but not overbearing, with keen attention spent on bringing out Aalegra’s gorgeous vocals and sonorities resting at the top end of the mix. Sprinkles of electronic sounds combined with the earthy vibes of jazz, give the project that perfect well-rounded sound.
Diving right in from the beginning with “Here Now (Intro),” Aalegra wastes no time is capturing your attention. Featuring sped up vocals reminiscent of Kanye West and Frank Ocean with lyrics oozing of that wisdom she has gathered in the past two years, she muses “Even if we catch the sunrise / It’s only a moment passing us by / We still have more, Southside” and as quickly as the moment arose as Aalegra promises, it passes. Into slow burning, anti-love song “I Want You Around” hosting a nod to one of Aalegra’s heroes, Stevie Wonder, it chronicles the common experience of being down for the hang but not feeling quite ready to get wrapped up in “love.” Jazz elements especially present here gives the track a sultry, lustful vibe with class. Overlapping vocals in the bridge, fall into a piano interlude between tracks, leaving the listener floating blissfully into subsequent song “Situationship.”
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We bring up the tempo a bit here, a tropical, freeing vibe manifests. A manipulated, repeated piano glissando matched with a quintessential R&B groove acts as the foundation of the track, giving Aalegra the space she needs to riff through the vocals while reminiscing on the “in-between” in romance, a classic stage in single-hood. Aalegra shared with Billboard that both “I Want You Around” and “Situationship” were inspired by the fun elements of being single; "I'm having new experiences and I'm meeting new people. When you have those positive butterflies feelings -- those are the kinds of emotions that inspired these songs.”
“Whoa” and “Find Someone Like You” bring both new feels and instrumentation into the mix. Percussive elements on “Whoa” are reminiscent of Afro-funk while “Find Someone Like You” feels cinematic with heavy attention spent on strings. “Toronto” showcases Aalegra’s impressive vocal range, as she builds and builds in the track. An explosive round of “Oohs,” leaves the listener reeling and maybe wanting to “Ooh” as well.
As we move into the second half of the album, Aalegra focuses less on the freedom of her new found single life and into understanding the emotional implications of her past, toxic relationship. “Charleville 9200, Pt. II" and “You” are specifically about this life changing relationship. “Chareville 9200” which made its appearance on her 2016 EP, Don’t Explain, is about her first encounter with said partner while “Pt. II” is Aalegra’s moment to mourn her love lost. A cathartic, epic goodbye she relents, "Why you take me up this high? / Just to put a hole in my parachute / So I would fall for you / Why you let us get this low?When you know I'd give up my life for you / Ride and I'll die for you.”
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But don’t let those deep emotions distract you for long, on “Nothing to Me,” we see the sexy, don’t-take-s*** version of Snoh… and we like it. An epic throwback to classic ‘90s R&B artists, we're sure TLC and Brandy smiled wide when they heard this one. A side we don’t see often, Aalegra is free and justified in her independence. A series of question we’ve all asked asked our favorite f-boys, "Why you always acting wishy-washy? / Why you always say you ready for me? When you know you ain't ready for me?" ends with a conclusive statement we all want to shout from the rooftops, “We aren’t friends if we fuckin’ homie."
The project finishes off with a healthy dose of soul, like a warm bath and joint after a god-awful day, Aalegra is showing everyone that with heartbreak comes wisdom and more importantly strength. “I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love” is your come-to-church moment baby and the congregation is waiting. You might find your arms raised in the air, tears streaming down your face by the end. But wipe them away quick, because “Peace” is all about bidding farewell to pain in style. A fresh, funky track complete with a surplus of record scratches, an emotive electric guitar line, and topped off with a dynamic violin part, Aalegra closes with the mantra “Peace in my mind gon’ save my life … Life ain’t really, ain’t really, ain’t really what it used to be.”
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Let’s talk about double standards (DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE IGNORANT AND ONLY READ PIECES OF WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN, DON’T READ IT ALL AND CERTAINLY DON’T WRITE REPLIES SAYING I’M AN IDIOT ETC BECAUSE I WILL CLAPBACK WITH RECEIPTS BEING THE SAVAGE THAT I AM)
Ok firstly, I originally was gonna write this on Tuesday but in rehearsals for a production at the moment so it got pushed back and Thank God I did because I did not expect this week to be so...eventful to say the least. I swear I will write a positive blog positive in the near future instead of talking about serious issues. Double standards exist and they are shit. The fact that people can bat a blind eye to one person’s situation but crucify someone else’s situation is BULLSHIT. We’ve all seen the events involving James “I think I can sing” Charles and Tati Westbrook exposing him for sexually manipulating heterosexual people. I think this is absolutely DISGUSTING. If someone is straight, they are straight. If someone is exploring their sexuality then LET them, but don’t manipulate someone for your own sexual gratification. Whilst I have a feeling that James Charles will continue to have a career after this even though that predator label is gonna definitely hang over his head, I ask this. WHY WEREN’T PEOPLE THIS QUICK TO “CANCEL” JEFREE STAR AFTER NUMEROUS INCIDENTS OF HIM BEING RACISTS! And this is coming from someone who doesn’t believe in the cancel culture. I just don’t understand how we let one person slide but not the other. Make it make sense! That’s all I ask.
Amber Heard who I at one point like and supported has been exposed by Johnny Depp and his camp in a $50 million lawsuit for lying about being abused in their marriage, using said lie to boost her career and actually being the abuser within the marriage. When finding this out, I was horrified and disgusted by this. When the events surrounding the end of Johnny and Amber’s marriage came to light, I was confused. My reason for being confused was due to the fact that Johnny was with Vanessa Paradis who I love for 14 years. They had two children and their relationship was barely in the news and even when they spilt, it was pretty quiet. Well...with the exception of rumours circulating that Johnny was having an affair with Amber since they got together not too long after his split with Vanessa. My thoughts were “well he was with Vanessa for so long and she hasn’t said anything about Johnny period. This is odd. I raise an eyebrow at that and remained confused until THAT video came out of Johnny appears to throw a bottle in Amber’s direction. That in combination with Johnny’s erratic behaviour made me think “whoa he really did that”. The public opinion of Johnny went down drastically, people were quick to hate him but he was still getting film roles. Controversially but nevertheless his career was effected minor. For Amber to use an accusation like that to boost her career, become part of the Me Too movement and be a UN ambassador is disgusting, Amber, you disgust me. The fact that Amber is not having her career effected by this is a perfect example of A) how people stay silent about women being abuses and how men getting abused does not get taken seriously and B) double standard. There should not be different rules depending on gender, or race. Keep that same energy. I seriously hope that Warner Bros will remove her from Aquaman 2.
Mel Gibson, a known racist and abuser only had his career effected for a couple years until he makes Hacksaw Ridge and it gets critical praise and several award nominations including Oscars and now he has been cast as Santa Claus. The person who told his girlfriend after beating her whilst holding their child “I hope you get raped by a pack of niggers” and told her that she “fucking deserved it” is playing Santa Claus. And yet when Chris Brown who took accountability for his incident, has a charity that primarily helps women who are victims of domestic violence but does not put this in the public eye got crucified in the public eye, blackballed, lost endorsements that probably would have earned him $20 million, had stores refusing to stock his third studio album Graffiti, got banned from the UK and is continuously persecuted TO THIS DAY about it.
And if someone is gonna write a response saying “what about Karruche” Those allegations were proven to be false and she has even admitted this herself and Iyanla Vansant exposed her and her manager for using her show as a way for boost her career as they tried to control her spiritual healing...on a show about spiritual healing. Also side note, we’ve seen how quick the LAPD were to arrest Chris when that girl made up that lie about holding her at gun point. If there was any truth to K***** accusation, A) he would have been arrested immediately and B) he would have been back on probation. Charlie Sheen is another example of someone with a domestic violence incident and this happened at the time when he was the highest paid actor on television, making $1.8 million, before he eventually got fired from Two and A Half Men in 2011. Charlie Sheen did have his career effected minor but he gets a roast on Comedy Central and all is forgiven. Ozzy Osbourne has allegedly admitted to choking Sharon in the past but not an eye lid batted because it’s Ozzy right? Sean Penn allegedly abused Madonna, a well known fact but sue Lee Daniels for saying this in an interview despite this being a well known fact.
R Kelly when the tape was released continued to be one of the biggest artists at the moment, racked up number 1′s and only got his Times Up moment a few months ago. After years of sexual abusing young POC women for over 20 years and there being mounds of evidence, remaining defiant and unapologetic and pretty much hiding in plain sight with dubbing himself The Pier Piper of R&B. Meanwhile you have Elvis who married Priscilla when she was a teenager but still gets honoured on TV specials. And I'm not trying to shit on Elvis to bring R Kelly up because I have been VERY vocal on my dislike for R Kelly and how I hope he gets jail time.
Recently I saw a tweet surfacing “celebrating” five years since Solange attacked Jay Z at the Met Gala. I love Solange but this shit should not be celebrated at all. I thought then and now, if Jay Z had even pushed her back in self defence, the backlash he would have gotten, would have been insane. When Bow Wow and his ex girlfriend got arrested and Bow Wow’s mugshot showed him with scars on his face, people made memes. Again double standards, if she had scars or a bruise on her face, everyone would be saying “FUCK BOW WOW, HE’S AN ABUSER” but...no smoke for his ex girlfriend huh? Wow.
I’ve just had enough of double standards and that’s the tea. Just start supporting POC beauty gurus like Jackie Aina and Alissa Ashley because they deserve all the love and support.
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Do Your "Grrr, We're Intelligence" Thing (Chapter Two)
Summary: This is Part Ten of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.
Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)
Rating: Teen Audiences and Up
Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz, Pre-Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes
Warnings: A man gets aggressive with Bex at a club (off-screen) and it is dealt with. Also, Jay is having a hard time.
A/N: I'll post the link to the ao3 page at the bottom. This story has not only an OC character, but some quirky elements which may or may not be everyone's jam. Just FYI. Updates will be slow coming as I pick away at them during breaks from work. I couldn't take a full break from this though - I'm too excited to write it so I made working on this series my reward for when I get stuff done, lol
Click here for Chapter One
Chapter Two
Bex
She’d asked the Uber to drop her off at Molly’s so the other three could head on to the next club. Bex had had enough partying, thank you very much.
She walked up the front steps of the bar feeling more relaxed already. She’d much rather be here than at any club.
The door was pulled open just as she reached for it causing her to stumble inside.
“Whoa.” Warm hands caught her arms and she looked up to see—
“Dr. Handsome McBeardface!”
“Excuse me?” Connor laughed.
“Oh, hang on,” Bex frowned. “That’s a secret nickname. You’re not supposed to hear that.”
“I’ll take it to my grave,” he said before tilting his head thoughtfully. “Might get it put on my grave.”
“Pinky swear you won’t repeat it until then,” Bex said solemnly, holding up her little finger.
Connor went to hook his finger with hers, grinning. “I swear—Bex, your hands are freezing.” His smile fell and he felt lightly along her arm. “You are freezing.”
“Oh. Yeah,” Bex said, looking down at herself. “Emery wouldn’t let me wear pants.”
“Okay…” Connor turned toward the bar. “Will?”
Right. Will was here. And the rest of her gang. Not Chris though. He was doing the Halloween thing. That was fine. She’d see him and Cindy and the kids this weekend.
Bex waved at everyone as she headed over to the bar, Connor trailing behind her. Kelly was hanging out with Matt, Gabi, Shay and April. Adam, Kim, Julie, and Kevin were at another table. Jay and Mouse were huddled together way in the corner and hadn’t noticed her yet.
She plopped down on the stool beside Will and leaned into his side. “Hey!”
“Hey yourself,” Will said, bumping his shoulder against hers and nearly sending her off the stool. “Whoa, Bex!”
Connor caught her and set her upright.
“I’m good! Otis!” She smiled at the man in front of her. “I need a drink.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Will and Connor said immediately.
“Something fruity, please,” Bex ignored them. Otis started to shake his head. “It’s my birthday!”
Otis sighed and picked up a glass. He stared at her while he filled it with water, stuck a straw in it, and set it on the counter in front of her with a smirk.
“Otis,” Bex pouted.
He sighed and popped a slice of lemon on the side.
“Thank you!” Bex chirped at him before sliding off her stool with her drink in hand to go and make the rounds. She could hear Will calling Jay over as she rolled up to the 51 crew’s table.
“Happy Birthday, Bex,” Gabi said, making space for her.
“Thank you!”
“Have a good night, little miss drunky pants?” Shay teased.
“’m not drunk,” Bex retorted before gasping at the sight of the plate in front of Kelly. “Nachos?”
Okay. Maybe she was a little drunk.
Kelly slid them over to her and she beamed at him. “Love you, Kelly.”
“Love you too, Bex,” he laughed. “But…okay, I have to ask—what are you wearing?”
She looked down to see her plastic coat (designed to look like a firefighter’s overcoat) had fallen open to reveal her short red shorts, cropped white tank top, and yellow suspenders. She was still thankful she’d managed to talk Emery and Malia out of pairing the outfit with heels and sticking with comfy black combat books instead.
Bex looked back up at Kelly and a slightly red-faced Matt. “I’m a ‘sexy firefighter’,” she said around a mouthful of nachos.
“Yeah, you are!” Stella cheered from the bar and Gabi offered Bex a high five.
Capp popped up behind Kelly. “I think you look grea—”
“Nope.” Shay planted a hand on the side of his face and shoved him away.
“Hey, Bex. Happy Birthday,” Jay said, suddenly appearing at her side, Will beside him and Connor and Mouse off to the side. Her brain blue-screened at the sight of Mouse.
He was wearing a green cable knit sweater and looked just…friggin’ squeezable.
She wanted to climb in there with him and—
“Bex,” Jay said again, moving closer to block her view of the cozy goodness. “Bex? How many drinks have you had?”
“Um,” she thought it over. “A birthday amount?”
***
Jay
Jay had been so caught up in his discussion with Mouse he hadn’t even noticed Bex’s arrival. Despite what Will said, Jay never expected her to show up tonight; not after she told him what her friends had planned. He’d made his own plans to celebrate with her on the weekend.
But then Will appeared at their table to let him know that not only was she there, she was drunk.
“Bex?” Jay asked, peering over Will’s shoulder. “She never drinks that much.”
“Okay, well, she did today and her outfit is also not exactly weather appropriate so can I steal your hoodie? Connor said her hands were like ice.”
What the hell? Jay got up from the table and headed over to where he could hear Bex talking excitedly about nachos.
He got closer and—yup. That was definitely a drunk and not weather appropriately dressed Bex.
“Hunh.” Mouse murmured behind him.
Jay sighed and walked up to Bex to find out what was going on. “Hey, Bex. Happy Birthday,” he said. She smiled at him before glancing behind him and stilling, eyes glazing over.
That wasn’t a good sign. “Bex,” he said again, getting closer to her. “Bex? How many drinks have you had?” He was starting to get concerned about how she’d made her way to Molly’s and wondering where the hell her friends were.
Bex focused her gaze back on him. “Um, a birthday amount?”
Jesus. Jay pinched the bridge of his nose.
Severide snorted and Jay shot him a look. “Oh, come on, man,” Severide laughed. “Lighten up, she’s fine. Everyone drinks a ‘birthday amount’ on their birthday.”
“Not Bex,” Jay muttered. “Not usually.”
“Emery made birthday drinks,” Bex said as if that explained everything.
“And where is Emery?” Jay pressed. “And the rest of your friends?”
“They went to another club and I got the Uber to drop me here because I was done,” Bex frowned. “Guys are assholes.” She glared at Severide and Casey.
“Hey!” Severide raised his hands in protest. “I gave you my nachos.”
“That’s true,” Bex said, tilting her head from side to side as if weighing that sacrifice against Severide’s possible asshole-rating. She took a sip of her water and shivered.
“Bex, you need to get into something warmer,” Will said from behind him and Jay slipped off his hoodie so he could pass it to her.
She made grabby hands for it and Jay stifled his chuckle. “Maybe try taking off the other coat first.”
“Oh, yeah.” She slipped it off and Jay stilled. Angry red marks stood out on her left arm. Finger-shaped marks.
“Bex,” he said quietly, trying to keep his voice even. “What happened to your arm?”
He felt the others still around him as they got a look, everyone slipping from friend mode to professional. He caught Kevin’s eye at the next table over and motioned him over with a quick jerk of his head.
“My—” Bex twisted to look down at the marks before snapping her head up to look back at the group. “Right. That’s why I came here.” She motioned for Jay and the 21 team behind him to come closer. “I need you guys to do your “grrr, we’re intelligence’ thing,” she whispered, making a claw with her hand.
“Bex,” Jay wrapped a hand around hers and gently pushed it down. “What. Happened.”
***
Bex
“What. Happened.” Jay was keeping his voice level, but she recognized his two-seconds from freaking out face.
“Okay, so you know how Emery and Malia wanted me to go out and have fun and stop pining for—” She cut herself off, suddenly aware of everyone present. “That part doesn’t matter. We went out clubbing and there was this gross guy who kept trying to get me to have a drink with him—”
“Did you take a drink from him?” Will interrupted and she stopped herself from rolling her eyes. She knew he was just worried, but he could also give her a little more credit.
“No,” she said, firmly. “I kept walking away, but he kept following all the way to the next club.”
“What?” Jay asked. Quietly. Dangerously.
“And the next club,” Bex continued, part of her dreading telling him the whole story, but she knew she had to. “He cornered me there and got really aggressive, grabbing my arm and trying to get me to go outside with him.”
“How’s your arm?” Connor asked while Will gently turned her arm this way and that, murmuring for her to tell him if anything hurt.
“Just bruised,” Bex said, trying to reassure them. “I’m fine, really.”
“Ice it when you get home,” Will said, draping Jay’s hoodie over her shoulders.
“Bex,” Jay was staring at her intensely. “What happened after that?”
“I did the thumb thing you showed me and stomped on his foot to get away. Malia and Kira had already grabbed a bouncer and he got kicked out.”
“Did you get his name? Which club was this?” Jay turned to Adam. “We should see if we can get any clear surveillance footage from the area. See if the club has any.”
“I don’t know,” Bex scrunched up her nose as she tried to remember the club name. “The girls kept dragging me to different places and they all blurred together. But I have his name!” She looked around for her ‘sexy firefighter’ coat.
“Okay, that’s good. What is it? Bex—Bex, what are you looking for?” Jay asked impatiently.
“Where’s my firefighter coat?” She nearly fell off her chair trying to look under the table.
“I have it,” Connor said, passing it to Will who passed it to her.
“Aha.” Bex dug into the pocked and pulled out—“Here. I stole his wallet.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Jay blinked at her as Will covered his face with his hand.
“Mini-Halstead, darlin’,” Adam said slowly. “You know that’s a crime, right?”
“So is trying to assault people,” Kelly pointed out and Bex nodded at him.
“He dropped when he was trying to fight the bouncers who were kicking him out. I grabbed it so I could check his name, but then I was worried I might not remember it so I just brought it with me,” Bex shrugged. “I thought maybe you could return it to him and say it was passed in to the police station? And then give him a talking to on the importance of consent?”
“That’s not a bad plan,” Will said and Jay scowled at him.
“This isn’t a joke, okay?” he snapped at them both. “This could have gone way worse, Bex, and I don’t think you get that. You could’ve—he could’ve—”
“Jay, I know that. I don’t think it’s a joke.” She frowned at him. “I never said it was. There was a situation and it was not good, but I dealt with it. Thanks to what you taught me, by the way.”
“I don’t think it’s a joke,” she repeated, crossing her arms and pulling the hoodie tighter around herself. “I also don’t trust this guy to stop what he’s doing just because some bouncers shook their fingers at him. And the next woman he comes across might not have had a big brother to teach her the thumb thing. So, I came here. To make sure it was handled.”
Jay closed his eyes and sighed. Then he reached out and gave her a hug. “That was good, Bex,” he said, mumbling into her hair. “You did the right thing.”
He stepped back, but she caught his sleeve. “So, you’re going to…” Bex raised her hand and made the little claw motion from before.
“Yeah,” Jay nodded before looking over at Adam. “Ruzek, can we—”
“Oh, Olinsky took it and left like five minutes ago,” Adam said.
“Al was here?” Bex exclaimed. “I didn’t even see him.”
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “He does that.”
“I would’ve said hi,” she grumbled.
“Okay,” Jay said, rubbing at his forehead. “So, I guess Olinsky’s on it and we’ll check in with him tomorrow. He might have some follow up questions for you, Bex. And the girls too.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “No problem.”
People started making their exits after that, giving Bex hugs and wishing her a happy birthday.
Oh, right. Birthday.
She’d almost forgotten about that.
Soon it was just Jay, Will, Mouse, and Connor standing around her.
“I’m gonna get going,” Connor gave her a little smile. “Happy Birthday, Bex. Don’t forget to drink that water.”
She took a dutiful sip and waved goodbye.
Jay was still watching her quietly. Now that she was sobering up, after the nachos and the water, she had a sharper view of him. He looked exhausted. Bone deep tired.
“You okay?”
He quirked an eyebrow at her. “You’re asking me that? After the night you had?”
“I’m fine, Jay.” She crossed her heart. “Promise.”
“You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days, you know that?” He pulled her into another hug, resting his head on hers. “I just…need you to be careful. To be safe.” His voice cracked a bit on ‘safe’ and Bex squeezed him back tight.
He let out a grunt when Will jumped on, squeezing both of them in his arms and Bex started giggling. “Oh, my god, Will.”
“I love you guys,” Will said and there were multiple snapping sounds as Mouse, Stella, Kelly, and Otis snapped pictures of them with their phones.
“Okay, that’s good,” Jay shrugged them off, shaking his head. “I should get going.”
Bex and Will exchanged a look. “I’ll walk you out,” Will said.
“The fifteen feet to my car?” Jay raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yeah,” Will smiled. “Come on. I’ll be back in a sec, Bex.”
Jay shook his head and followed him out, leaving her alone at the table with Mouse.
***
Mouse
Mouse took the opportunity to get his fill of gazing at Bex’s face while she was distractedly staring out the door Jay had just swiftly exited through. He’d memorized every inch of it over the years and could probably map it out blindfolded, but still—
He looked. Because that was all he allowed himself.
Movement caught his attention and he smiled down at the hand on his arm, unconsciously petting at his sweater.
Bex finally turned to him, face concerned. “What’s going on, Mouse? For a minute there…he was really upset with me.”
“Not at you.”
“Mouse.”
“Okay, well, yeah, you know part of it was because he hates seeing you hurt in any way,” Mouse said. “Pretty sure he’d follow you around to beat off all the bad guys if he could.”
“You know he actually did that once for a day when I was in high school and he was home for a visit.” Bex smiled at the memory. “It was sweet. Scared the crap out of my boyfriend at the time.”
Mouse was not jealous of a highschooler from eight years ago.
“Did something else happen?” Bex asked, refocusing on him. “I know he was upset by this…and by what happened with Erin. But it felt like there was something else going on with him today.”
Mouse sighed. “Do you remember Logan and Neil from our unit?”
Bex nodded.
“They got in touch a little while ago and told us they were re-enlisting,” he explained. “Jay’s been trying to talk them out of it, but we heard today that it was a done deal. Jay was really upset.”
“You guys went through a lot over there,” Bex said quietly.
Mouse nodded slowly. “Jay doesn’t get why they’d put themselves through that again, but,” Mouse paused, trying to pick the right words to explain. “Not everyone is able to find their way when they get back here. Not everyone finds a purpose like Jay did. For a lot of guys, the only purpose they ever had was over there.”
He debated telling her the next part, but he found himself wanting her to know. To hear his choice. “They asked me to re-enlist too.”
The fingers petting his sweater stilled.
“Yeah, that was the other thing Jay was mad about. He tore a strip off me when he thought I was even considering it.”
“…were you?” Bex whispered, eyes wide as her fingers clenched lightly on his arm.
“No,” he said, staring right back at her. “No, Bex. It’s…it’s different this time, you know? I’ve got people to stick around for now. Family.”
Bex let out a breath, hand returning to playing with his sweater. “Good,” she said. “That’s—that’s really good.” She grinned at him. “I don’t know what Jay would do without you.”
“Well, uh,” Mouse smiled back at her. “...Jay’s...never going to have to find out.”
Click here for Chapter Three.
(Here's the link to read Do Your "Grrr, We're Intelligence" Thing on ao3.)
#chicago fire#chicago med#chicago pd#one chicago#christopher herrmann#jay halstead#will halstead#halstead brothers#oc character#rebecca 'bex' herrmann#halstead sister#sibling bonding#found family#team as family#fluff#angst#hurt/comfort#alternate universe#not canon#not beta read#my first fanfic series#A Herrmann/Halstead Production
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SECRET RADIO / NYE & JAN.1.2022 / VOL.2 ISSUE 2
“Vegan tacos & champagne” Edition | listen here.
Kensington Secret Radio | artwork by Paige, liner notes by Evan
1. Panjabi MC - “Jogi”
It’s amazing how smoothly this track fits into ‘90s rock production. I know nothing about how this track came to be, but it has 22 million views and the guys in the band are super fun to look at. They did a couple of collabs with Jay-Z, which strikes me as a really rare overlap between the two megacultures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfzp4cdcuYc
2. Christie Laume - “Rouge Rouge”
Whoa — so this song was recorded in 1967, but I just saw Christie Laume’s current website. So fascinating: she just wrote a book called “The Last Love of Edith Piaf.” Her brother Theo married Edith Piaf, and Christie Laume stayed with them for a while. Eventually Piaf asked her to sing and started bringing her out on tour. Now her book about them is described as “the story that only Christie, who loved them so much, can reveal from living with Edith and Theo at their invitation… The heartfelt story of their great love is beyond the difference in their age and physical appearance.” Oh and she’s recently “turned totally to the Lord Jesus Christ.” So that’s all a pretty surprising catchup on the gal who sang about turning red.
3. Alèmayèhu Eshèté - “Tchero Adari Nègn”
We’ve been following Ethiopian music in jazz and rock and pop-reggae, but this is the most James Brown inflection I’ve yet heard from there. But I love how it also sounds so specifically Ethiopian funk in structure and melody.
I am saddened to report that Eshèté died this last year, on September 2, 2021, in Addis Ababa. Thousands of people gathered at Meskel Square to pay tribute.
4. Bruisey Peets - “Zabadee”
We miss you, Bruisey! We’ve been thinking about you. Friends, Ben is a tourmate of long standing, currently I believe in New Orleans, consistently making new and interesting stuff.
- N’draman Blintch - “Self Destruction”
This is taken from a pretty disturbing song about the end of the world. As bed music I must say it reflects how I feel these days, where there’s just a background narrative of destructive practices not getting restrained in any way. Life is good, I love my actual lived life, but the big stuff is just so alarming all the time and feels so destructive.
5. The Exploding Hearts - “Modern Kicks”
I had a heart attack on December 1. It took me by complete surprise, and now as far as I can tell I am… all better? More better? Julian sent this record when he heard, which is incredibly kind, especially because it rocks so hard and good.
6. Dur-Dur Band - “Dooyo”
One of Somalia’s greatest bands, active and prolific through the ‘80s. They have a few different periods and styles within that era, not all of which are my favorites, but this recording is absolutely perfect, right down to the final cassette format that shapes the entire sound. A vivid reminder that Somalia had a rich cultural life before everything crumbled. Worth remembering.
7. The Velvet Underground - “Sad Song” demo
The demos are as much a pleasure to listen to as the albums.
8. La Femme - “Où va le monde”
This is from 2016. They were making a push into the Anglo market while singing in French, which basically never succeeds, but I feel like most of the music lovers I know, pretty much all of whom speak English, would dig this song.
9. Desert Storm - “New Trition” - Hey Drag City
I got really excited about Desert Storm when I heard the ’94 “Hey Drag City” comp, started looking out for more and… there wasn’t any. Didn’t really get started as a band. I just want to hear more songs like this. There’s one 7” available, but I haven’t ever heard any of the songs off it, dammit.
Someone finally told me that this is one of Rian Murphy’s projects, who I know primarily as a collaborator with Will Oldham but who has been part of the Drag City world forever as both drummer and sales guy. Wish he woulda written a dozen more songs in the Desert Storm persona!
10. Shin Joong Hyun & Yup Juns - “Lady”
Korea’s hypercreative, dynamic composer across multiple decades and with tons of collaborators. Hyun was more than 15 years into his music career already when he put this trio together in 1974 and changed his whole approach to music.
A yupjun is like a penny, essentially cheap and worthless.
- N’draman Blintch - “Self Destruction”
11. Nicolas Repac - “Carambolage”
This song was released in 2021! Repac is from Paris, a jazz-based guitarist who eventually got seduced into the exact kinds of historical worldwide music we here at Secret Radio really enjoy, as well as the joys of pure production. He’d mostly set down his instrument for the mixing board, but apparently has been incorporating his guitars more and more into the pieces. There are definitely fascinating guitar flourishes throughout this piece. “Rhapsodic” is his third album, out on No Format! Records.
12. Juaneco Y Su Combo - “Me Robaron Mi Runa Mula”
Cumbia psicodélica from Pucallpa, Peru in 1972. They were part of a music style that was considered straight from the jungle.
13. The Fall - “US 80’s - 90’s”
From “Bend Sinister,” one of our favorite Fall albums of all time.
14. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - “Siran Fen” live at KEXP
Ngoni Ba is the band backing Bassekou Kouyate, who is not the singer but one of the lead instrumentalists. This video is a rewarding watch, cos you can see both how hard they go at their instruments and how little they move at all. Also, none of those are guitars. That wahhiest instrument is four-stringed and roughly mandolin-sized, for instance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWgqngywYt4
- Vengaboys - “We Like to Party”
15. Ezra Furman - “Restless Year”
16. Tshetsha Boys - “Uya Kwihi Ka Rose”
Recently I went diving into a whole subculture of South African music. Most of what I’ve heard come out of South Africa in the ‘70s and ‘80s doesn’t quite get to me… but there’s this whole other aesthetic that seems to be uniting glitchy digital production style with traditional singing and dancing. At least, that’s certainly what it looks like. Which isn’t to say this is traditional music… but it does seem to include real traditions that are both contemporary and long-running. Watching the way the fabric moves in two different directions at once, while the dancers barely seem to be moving beyond their hips, is mesmerizing.
17. France Gall - “L’Amerique”
18. Camille Bigeault - “Hi hat in 4 vs kick in 5 and snare/groove in 6”
Camille Bigeault is a savant of polyrhythms — it’s not just that she can work in multiple seemingly clashing cycles at one time, it’s that they somehow feel so musical and appealing. She’s throwing some crazy elements in there but she’s such a good drum writer that everything serves one giant, constantly rotating forward motion. She’s certainly one of my favorite drummers of the day. Weirdly, I haven’t seen her in a musical situation yet that has been enjoyable — when she drums to songs, I’m generally not feeling the composition, the dynamics, the style…. but when she drops a new polyrhythm, it’s pretty much always a jawdropper.
Definitely worth a watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aszx1u6AcQ
19. William Onyeabor - “Something You Will Never Forget”
Still somehow haven’t watched the movie about him.
20. Falco - “Der Kommissar”
OK, I’ll admit, something in this hits me right in the middle-school guys. I mean, the verse shapes are basically lifted straight from Tone Loc, with which I have squirmy associations. Why? I think literally Tone Loc = puberty soundtrack. School dances. But in his favor: Falco is also an incredibly silly guy to look at. I’m pretty sure he’s making his very best attempt to look cool in his video — but it’s also indistinguishable from a video someone would make if they wanted to parody this song. While the chorus is undeniably appealing, the further you get into the song, the more it has that oh-no-it’s-an-enthusiastic-impression-of-rap-and-rap-culture feel that I believe is now known simply as “cringe.” And appropriation. Even still, it’s a true international artifact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-bgiiTxhzM
- West Side Story - “Overture”
21. Super Mama Djombo - “Sûr Di Nô Pubis”
From Guinea-Bissau, a fairly small country just below Senegal on the westernmost coast of Africa. They met as Boy Scouts in the mid-’60s— the youngest was 6 years old! They became associated with the new country’s independence when it happened in 1974 and became part of the political scene there. Both political and popular, they eventually recorded in Spain and released their first album “Na Cambança” in 1980 (which is what this track comes from) — right as the young country’s government got thrown out of power.
22. Paige Brubeck - “Boys Keep Swinging”
A swatch of “Lodger” Bowie recorded by Tim Gebauer at Electropolis in St. Louis.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CX1gkLcB_bv/
23. Françoise Hardy - “L’età Dell’Amore”
24. Nahid Aktar - “Devi Gi Dang Maar” from the soundtrack to “Sher-E-Babbar” by Tafo
- West Side Story - “Overture”
25. Jimi Hendrix - “Auld Lang Syne”
Thank you Josh for introducing this essential New Year’s Eve experience to us last night. Recorded live at the Fillmore East as 1969 turned into 1970. Cheers to wringing out the old and ringing in the new!
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Day 23, 30 Day Challenge: Richard Armitage
This Means War
Thanks to @deepestfirefun for this challenge!
With rehearsals about to begin for CAT, she decided she really needed to listen to more of the music from the production. Up to that point, she had only heard bit and pieces of the songs since music rehearsals weren't broadcast on the intercom system, not like during performances for everyone to keep track of what was happening on stage. Richard had most of the songs on a CD and put it in while they drove home that night.
"Here's one of the songs Jay want you for." he said as the song started to play. Richard sang along with the lyrics.
“I was the one left to the fire, Holding the pace with empty desire, Finally woke to see that my heart lay, On the floor You were the one, playing the master, Holding the gun and pushing me faster, Hit like a wave, I'm ready to crash down, On your shore, This means war, And I won't take it no more, This means war, Gonna settle the score”
"Whoa! Where does that song come up?" CAT asked with a surprised expression.
"It's in the second act, when the women challenge the men, lead by the femme fatale against my character." Richard said as he turned the music down. "Remember, it's not only a class war it's about equality in attitude for the women."
"I guess I hadn't thought about it that way. I did read the script and thought it was powerful but that's amazing." CAT sighed. "I wish they sounds system was up by now so I could be listening to this via the intercom. But no matter," she looked at him. "I guess I'd better learn the music for the dancing."
"That's my girl!" Richard said as he grinned. He knew she had only agreed to dancing because of him, he just wanted to make it easy for her to be involved.
********
That night at home, Richard went over each act with her, again, and played the music. CAT said she hadn't taken it all into account before and was just looking at it from the costume perspective before. It really changed the vision of the play itself and she was more excited about being involved. As she made supper and they ate, she asked all her questions about the music and the choreography. It wasn't going to be difficult but it would be more intense and she was looking forward to the challenge, if nothing else to prove to herself she could still dance. She had helped with rehearsals for the children's productions before at her theatre but hadn't performed much since then. She had had bit parts from time to time, just to fill scenes or in one case, to do a quick change on stage for an actor. But her acting and dancing days were pretty much behind her, until now.
"I'm glad you're doing this, even if it's just for me." Richard said excitedly. "I think this may lead to more time either on stage or in front of the camera, with me." he beamed at CAT. She smiled back and snuggled into his arms.
"I just hope I'm not letting Izzy down by throwing more of the burden on her for running the show. I know I'll be there for most of it but it does divide my attention somewhat." she sighed as Richard hugged her tighter.
"Izzy is a very intelligent young lady and she seemed genuinely excited for you." Richard said rubbing her back. "But for now, my little star needs all her rest before Jay starts cracking the whip." He stood and pulled her up with him.
"Rest maybe, but not until I've had my share of you!" CAT said as she pulled him towards the bedroom.
"The demands of the rising starlet!" Richard said dramatically as he threw is head back and put the back of his hand over his eyes. "How ever shall I live up to such demands?"
"I'll help you with that, can't have any performance anxiety!" and with that she pulled him into the kiss and toppled him onto the bed.
*************
The next few days were pretty much the same: CAT would rehearse privately with Jay during the mornings, work with Izzy in the early afternoon and then join the rest of the cast for a run through. Since she was only in a few scenes, she and izzy could keep working until her cue came up.
At the end of the third day, CAT was falling asleep in the car on the way home. Richard would be humming the songs from the show to keep her entertained and then keep an eye on her until they got home. He tried to carry her in from the car the first night but she protested too much so he opted for keeping his arm around her until he could deposit her on the sofa. He would order supper then massage her feet and legs until it arrived. She would perk up enough to eat with a glass of wine and then she'd be ready for bed. Their love making got to be very quick and less energized but tons more cuddling before she conked out.
The third night after the grueling schedule started, CAT had one of her "It's happening tomorrow and things are exactly where I left them" dreams. In it, she ran on stage and fell on her face and wasn't even in costume or make up. The other dancers would pick her up and carry her off stage and tell her to at least put on her costume. Richard would be rushing around telling everyone to take care of her and she would be so embarrassed none of the other costumes had been organized. She woke with a start and looked around at the dark room and the handsome man snoozing beside her. He pulled her reflexively to him and held her and hummed to her. She eventually relaxed enough to sleep peacefully the rest of the night.
On the forth night she started hearing lyrics in her head to go along with the confusion in the dream.
"I know the dark weakness inside you, I can't be stopped, I'll do what I have to, Shatter your heart and scatter the pieces, On the floor"
She woke this time feeling as if she had lost everything and she was heart broken. Richard woke and found her almost sobbing to herself. He pulled her into his embrace, spooning with her and kissed her hair and stroked her arms while he wrapped his arms around her. Her sobs slowed then stopped and she drifted off to sleep once more.
The next morning Richard asked her about her dream. "It was the lyrics from the song about This Means War and how I was being called weak and my heart was shattered and broken."
"That explains why you were practically crying in your sleep. I have some sleeping pills, maybe tonight you try one and get some real rest." he said as he held her and ran his hands up and down her back.
"We can try that but I had warned you I have dreams like this. I'm doing something really big and then I have the dream that it's exactly where I left it before I fell asleep and the event happens the next day despite what I actually have done." she snuggled into his embrace. "I want you to get sleep too. You're job is more important than mine."
"if you mean taking care of you, then yes. As far as my role in the play, my understudy could do it blindfolded. I'm just window dressing for the theatre."
"Mighty nice window dressing if you ask me," and she kissed him.
The technical rehearsal was just a week away and opening night in just two weeks and CAT was getting very proficient at her routines for the show. She no longer needed someone to watch her while she danced so she could get tips afterwards and no longer needed the extra time with Jay in the morning. Tom, the assistant director called all the technical people into a meeting, which included CAT and Izzy, and discussed the tech rehearsal and what issues they were having now so things could be resolved beforehand. After the meeting, CAT went to look for Richard.
"I think he said he had an errand to run since rehearsals were delayed for the meeting." Jay volunteered. "He should be back anytime." he said just as Richard was walking through the back door. He gave CAT a sheepish grin and went to her for a hug and kiss.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're like the cat who ate the canary." she poked him.
"I have no knowledge of a small yellow bird." he said as he winked at her.
"In the meantime, Izzy and I need to set up the dressing rooms so I'll see on later for my bit of stumbling around Jay claims is dancing."
"Later my love," he said as he kissed her cheek and she practically skipped off. "Thanks for covering for me, Jay."
"No problem although, I hope you accomplished what you needed to." Jay said.
"Yes, and I hope she still loves me afterwards." Richard winked at Jay and headed to get ready for rehearsal.
@deepestfirefun @pixiedurango @cd1242 @abiwim@thestorybookmistress@silentwanderlustfanfiction @theincaprincess@starlight92 @xxbyimm@14readwritedraw96
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Books Read in 2020
Books I read in 2020. Maybe one of these makes it to your list this year? A few highlights...
Black Flags, Blue Waters- Eric Jay Dolin. Fantastic historical look at Pirates.
What Is Biblical Theology- Jim Hamilton. I began doctoral studies this last year, and this is a helpful and short primer on what i I'm studying.
Can We Trust the Gospels? - Peter Williams. A defense of the historicity of the Gospel accounts. The Gospels are incredible historical documents. Good book for skeptics.
Beginning Greek - Rob Plummer. Wanna learn New Testament Greek? Buy this book and spend the year on dailydoseofgreek.com
Louis Lamour books. My grandfather loved reading them. He gave me all his books before he died. Inside the cover of each one, he wrote the date he read it. I'm picking up the practice.
The One Thing- Gary Keller. A distracted mind slows down productivity.
Animal Farm - George Orwell. Whoa boy. Read this thing with contemporary lenses on.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Same as above. Read this with contemporary lenses on.
Echoes of Exodus- Alastair Roberts and Andrew Wilson. How the story of the exodus shows up in and shapes just about every book of the Bible.
Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride - Peter Cooper. Insider's look at country music through the decades.
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Weekending
It was a beautiful weekend in our neck of the woods. I hope it was in yours as well. Yard clean-up was top of the list. I wanted to get the yard tidied up so I can start working in the garden this week. We had hoped to have mulch delivered so I could tackle that as well but it seems we are a bit early on our planning and it can't be delivered until this week or next week. That's ok, I'll get it going on the next decent day.
We have to make a trip to the grocery store this week. Not something I'm looking forward to. I'm hoping to get in, find what we need, and get out. We've completely run out of fresh veggies (we still have frozen) and are almost out of fruit. We also want to stock back up on a few pantry items, a bit more meat for Jay and some dairy & non-dairy too.
I certainly hope this finds you and your family doing well. It's a scary time for everyone that I think will make an impact on us all for the remainder of our lives. All we can do is to try and make that a positive impact. Find some lessons to learn from this difficult time that may make our lives a bit better.
The links I'm sharing at the end of this post are all food related in hopes to provide you ideas or recipes you may need during our shelter-in-place.
do you see those piles in the yard past the coop? those are our raking piles. we haven't loaded them into the truck yet.
Coop Girls - they are doing really well. They love this time of the year because the snow is (finally) gone and they can dig and scratch and forage to their hearts content. Egg production remains high so we've been giving them away for free to our community while we are not attending the market. We've been told that eggs can be hard to get (not surprising) right now, so our hope is that those who need them can enjoy them.
did you know that Ollie does yoga?
Oliver - Ollie is doing good. We haven't been taking him to the park because the last time we went it was absolutely packed so we didn't walk. It's hard because everyone just wants to get out and there's only so many places to walk. We'll wait until the quarantine is over. Because his stomach is so sensitive and I've only been successful in finding one food he can eat I stocked up on it. So I find comfort in knowing he's good for another 2 months.
Jack - oh brother. He's been something else. His naughty pants are at an all-time high again. He is back to posturing and lunging at Oliver anytime I'm not right by his side. He's such a brat. Jack is very very funny but very very annoying. Oliver sleeps in a pack & play in our bedroom at night. Jack was going through a phase of jumping in it in the middle of the night and getting in Oliver's face and scaring him. So we went through trying to keep Jack out of our bedroom (he shook the door and cried all night) and eventually the trauma of it all made him stop.
Now Jack is jumping into Oliver's pack & play during the day. (mind you, he has boxes, blankets, teepees and beds, that are his, throughout the whole house...) The problem, is that I'm afraid he will do this overnight as well because he loves it so much. So, I've found a way to stop him. I call it my "Jack trap" and let me tell you, it is funny. I took a piece of netting that we use to keep the birds away from our fruit trees and clamp it onto the frame of the pack & play once we get up in the morning. As you know, Jack isn't the brightest lamp in the park so he continues to try to jump into the pack & play throughout the day and freaks out when he hits the netting. His hair goes straight up, his ears go back, and he shakes his head like "whoa....what was THAT????" Sometimes he tries it a second time (again, not bright....) and eventually settles for our bed. But he keeps on trying! He really is something else.
Cooking - Hopefully you're taking this opportunity to cook and bake your way through your pantry. Using up any ingredients you purchased for a recipe that you never made, or because it looked good, or even because it was on sale or really cheap. I had some items in each of these categories ( I'm talking to you quinoa flour, xanthan gum, umeboshi plums, and harissa paste). A cleaned out pantry will be the perfect space for, at some point, stocking up on only our true pantry essentials.
On that same note, it's also a good opportunity, I realized, to go thru kitchen gadgets and purge. If you aren't using it while you're making so much from scratch, do you really need to keep it? I found some items that are going to be relocated once we can donate them.
I'm grateful that I already had enough flour and yeast in the pantry and freezer. We don't use either a lot so I know we are set for some time. I've had a small bag of Einkorn flour in the freezer for a few months that I've been meaning to work with. This past week I decided it was time to try some recipes. The first Einkorn bread recipe I tried was a no-knead one and it was not good. It was fairly flat, dense and crumbly. Disappointing. Next I went to Jovial's website (something I should have done from the beginning) and found their Einkorn Sandwich bread and hit upon a winner. I would purchase more of this flour to create this bread recipe again and would like to try it in sourdough too.
I've been trying to keep my schedule of meal prep on Saturdays. This usually is cutting up any veggies, making a big pot of beans I'll use that week (this week it was pintos), making quinoa for salads, making bread or bread dough, and anything else that helps out for meals. I made a batch of vegan meatballs (recipe from Minimalist Baker) that turned out really good. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I used a few last night and put the rest in the freezer for use later.
Business - We've significantly slowed down our manufacturing for 3 reasons really: our sales are slower since they are online only (quite busy, but slower than normal); we have no idea when things will pick back up to "normal" again or, alternatively, what our new normal might be and we don't want shelves of stock just sitting there; which brings us to the third reason, practicing judicial money management to get through this. We are fine (and will be fine), but it's the responsible and prudent thing to do for us and for the business.
Anywhoo, this has allowed us extra time to get other things done. We've been checking off some "to do" items on our list, jumping into spring projects early, and actually getting to things we've held on each of our "someday" mental lists. One for me is to make vegan cheese. I know, I know, just the thought likely makes you squeam, but for those of us who can't eat dairy, it's all we've got. I've found a couple of store-bought cheeses that are good, but they contain way too much oil and some have suspect ingredients. So, I'm hoping our shopping trip this week will score me some of the ingredients required to try fermenting for the purposes of making my own vegan cheese.
It's the little things.....isn't it?
Hoping you had a wonderful weekend and that you and your family stay safe and healthy.
Link Love:
A few recipes on this blog:
No Knead Artisan Bread, SUPER easy and includes recipes for white, wheat, and gluten flour
Freezer Breakfast Burritos
16 Homemade Spice & Seasoning Blends
The BEST Deviled Eggs
Secret Ingredient Potato Salad
Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Quick & Easy Skillet Spaghetti
And a few from other blogs:
20+ Sourdough Recipes, including how to create and maintain a starter (Farmhouse on Boone)
100 Cheap & Easy Pantry Meals (Prudent Penny Pincher)
Food Storage Tips, to help your food last longer (Cookie & Kate)
50 Pantry Recipes & Substitutions (Cookie & Kate)
Healthy Homemade Easter Candy (Chocolate Covered Katie)
14 Easy Eggless Desserts (Living On A Dime)
10 Cheap Chicken Dinners (Living On A Dime)
Honey Beer Bread, we made this last weekend and it was very good. Great recipe if you don't have any yeast on hand. (Gimme Some Oven)
50 Best Beans Recipes (A Couple Cooks)
Easy Garlic Naan (A Couple Cooks)
10 Homemade Pantry Staples (One Good Thing By Jillee)
100+ Easy Pantry Recipes (Gimme Some Oven)
How To Make Oat Milk, because I have not been successful in finding oat milk locally and think maybe you are struggling to find it too. (Downshiftology)
16 Of The Best Chicken Thigh Recipes (What's Gaby Cooking)
Extra Small Batch Chocolatey Brownies (I Am A Food Blog)
I hope these links help you find some new winning dishes!
Weekending was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)
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Bits and Pieces of Various WIPs
So I decided to get up off my butt and actually be productive for once. Unfortunately, this means working on my thesis and two research papers and not all of my sad, neglected WIPs, but as a treat, I’ll share some bits and pieces from a couple of them will all of y’all:
So…from my ‘East of the Sun and West of the Moon’ Miraclous Ladybug AU:
“Are you afraid?” He asks her, his green eyes solidly staring at her. He searches her frame for any reservation, for a hint of discomfort or fear.
She was not.
She smiles gently and laughs. “I am not afraid. Not of you,” she says.
It is enough for now.
……
Her powers always stack the cards in her favor. She works in a permanent best-case scenario, and tonight she had found out that even in the best-case scenario, she still would have lost her cat. And that is a devastating concept.
My Post-Prince Caspian ‘Problem of Susan’ fic (mostly movieverse, heavily dabbing in bookverse):
Susan observes. Many think Edmund as the observant one (and he is), but she is the one who truly watches. She watches from the shadows as girls laugh and flirt and dance, as they create a persona for themselves cloaked in crimson lipstick and too-short skirts that somehow makes them looking alluring and wanted. At first she scorns them, remembering very well that it was her beauty that was famed, her grace and gentleness that was revered in seven lands and all the islands. She sticks her nose up at these desperate girls playing pretend, at their pitiful attempts to be grown up and to impress boys who aren’t yet men.
She does not realize then that she will soon join their ranks.
Susan watches quietly as girls become women in the eyes of society by stepping into this world, this world of make-up and flirtations and materialness. She resents them. She remembers how it feels to be an adult, a true adult, and she sits here and watches as these girls and their overwhelming fakeness are treated as adults and she is treated as a child. She resents that they can so easily step into their assigned roles and play them to perfection where she is stuck straddling two worlds. She resents the fact that throwing on a bit of makeup and parading around like a doll is all girls need to do in this world to be considered women.
She suddenly decides one day that she is tired of it. She’s tired of being cast aside and treated like a child. She’s tired of people not recognizing her for the Queen she is. She wants to be recognized. She wants to command attention like she once did, to be admired from afar and talked of incessantly. She wants the people around her to see her.
……
But that is in the past, and Susan is so firmly entrenched in the here and now that she refuses to think about the past, for Narnia is Before and England is her Now and After. She needs to learn to live here and not dwell on what can no longer be. No…she would be beautiful here, respected here, not beautiful in some imaginary land that she could no longer rule.
My ‘Teen Titans ‘Apprentice arc’ as it might have happened in Young Justice+Bonus Batfamily’ fic:
“What’re you doing, Jay?” Wally asked, watching him call up a screen on his own holographic computer.
“Calling for backup.”
“You mean…”
“Yeah.”
“Whoa, whoa. Hold up,” Artemis said, cutting in front of Wally to look at the screen. “Who’re you calling? Batman’s off-planet.”
“I’m not calling Batman.” Her next question was interrupted by a cheerful voice.
“Red Robin to Blue Jay. What’s going on, Jay?”
……..
“Shiva’s a liar,” Jason muttered, glaring at nothing.
“Wait, back up!” Wally shouted. “Shiva? As in ‘Lady Shiva’, one of the most deadly assassins on earth?”
“Do you know any other Shivas?” Jason shot back, frustrated. He didn’t have time to deal with this right now, not when his brother was on the line.
LOK “Control”: “Asami struggles to reassert control over her life. Sometimes she is successful; other times, she is less so. Or: Asami makes choices, has choices made for her, and has no choice at all, in the end. A story in ten parts.” Otherwise known as my ‘Justice for Asami Sato’ fic that I started working on in 2014 and haven't touched since:
She is not jealous. She is not.
……
She doesn’t allow herself to think that she had stayed with Mako because he represented stability and dependability. She doesn’t allow herself to think that she had not loved him as much as she thought she had. She doesn’t allow herself to forgive Korra (yet) for stealing her boyfriend away—and with him, the one stable thing she was allowed to keep after her father’s betrayal.
She shakes her head and sits quietly against the wall in her bedroom, the tears drifting softly down her cheeks. It isn’t fair, she thinks. The only thing she has ever wanted, and it is something money cannot buy. Money cannot buy her stability or happiness. It can alleviate many of the other problems she faces, but all the yuans in the world cannot buy back a life with a father who loved her and hadn’t tried to kill her, a life where her life was dependable and she was gloriously in control of her own destiny.
…….
She feels presumptuous and out-of-line, asking Katara (the Katara) to teach her how to heal, but Asami is tired of staying while her friends go where she can’t follow and sitting by the sidelines. Asami may not be able to bend, but she can create and she can mend, and that is enough (for now).
…….
Asami is not happy with her form. She realizes this the day that she brings down two assassins that managed to corner her in the stairwell at Future Industries but nearly dies in the process. She understands she can defend herself better than the vast majority of the nonbenders in the city, but she shakes with frustration, thinking that it is not enough. It will never be enough. Her years of self-defense training are useful and helpful, but are not what she actually needs. She cannot have the control she so desperately desires if she continues fighting like a non-bender. She needs to think like a bender.
“Teach me to fight,” she demands of Korra one afternoon. Korra blinks and tilts her head, but seems to recognize something about the way Asami is pleading and simply nods. “Okay.”
Asami’s afternoons become filled with combat sessions that feel more like dance lessons, Korra teaching her to spar the way her father once taught her how to spin and sway across the marble floors. She learns how to flow like water and stay firm like the earth, taking her new knowledge and adapting it to mix with her already present skills. It is hard, grueling work, but it is worth every second Asami spends drenched in sweat or lying on the ground, bruises coloring her body. She will not become her mother, lying lifelessly on the floor in a tattered dress.
.............
She doesn’t know what hurts the most: the fact that the boy she used to love no longer loves her, the fact that the girl she currently loves is oblivious to her affections, or the fact that they both seem too tangled up in each other to notice her existence.
#miraculous ladybug#lok#asami sato#narnia#young justice#personal#my writing#also known as 'fics i'll probably never finish but desperately want to someday'#wow I'm re-reading 'Control' and realizing that I was *deeply* hurting when I wrote the majority of what's there#I mean in theory I knew that I wrote it in the depths of the finale fallout drama and that I was spending an unhealthy amount of time#fighting idiots on the internet#but like...wow
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Picture of Love | 07
Pairing: Photographer!Hoseok x OC x Producer!Yoongi
Genre/Warnings: Hoseok AU/Yoongi AU/Includes strong language.
Words: 3,330
Summary: Charlotte Galloway is the leader of the up and coming girl band, “She-Bang”, with a side hustle as a photographer for anyone who will hire her. She meets a fellow professional photographer named Jung Hoseok who helps “She-Bang” realize their dreams and Charlotte to make a love connection along the way.
I knew better than to think that the girls would be keeping to themselves, sleeping or doing anything other than pestering me as soon as I walk through the hotel room door. So when I am greeted with exactly that, I am not surprised whatsoever.
"How was it?"
"Did you have fun?"
"Did you fuck?"
Is all I hear on my journey through the hotel room, hanging up my jacket and slipping off my shoes on my way to my bed. I send a glare in Leyah's direction, knowing where that last question came from, before I sit at the head of my bed. The girls proceed to get comfortable around me, awaiting details of my date with J-Hope.
"So?" Carrie begins the interrogation. I sigh humorously and call back tonight's events.
"Okay...well basically we just went to dinner at Gary Danko." I pause for collective oo's and ah's heard around the bed. "Yeah." I comment with a smug smile. "We just talked...and flirted. A lot." I laughed and the girls follow suit.
"We just got to know each other...yeah." I say still dazed by how amazing tonight was and satisfies with my description.
"Awwwww!" Squealed Carrie causing the rest of us to roll our eyes and eventually laugh at her.
And I thought I was the softy. "What?! That was cute as fuck." She defended. I just shrug.
"But Gary Danko. I thought this kid was a photographer." Leyah chimed in.
"He is." As far as I know.
"Must be dealing on the side or somethi-"
"Leyah!" I chide her. She snickers at me. "Sorry. I'm sure he's not Char...doesn't seem like the type anyway." She murmurs the last bit under her breath. "Okay." I say signaling that this conversation is over. The girls and I sit in silence for a few before Vicky's curiosity gets the better of her.
"So you really didn't do anything?" she asks with squinted eyes. I can only assume she meant sexually because Leyah adds "I know right?! That's what I'm saying.", incredulously. "Yeah." Carrie adds. I literally drop my face to rest in my palm at their lack of faith in my will power.
"Guys, come on. It's not like I'm fighting myself not to jump J-Hope whenever I see him." Although I am. "...We did kiss though." I finished looking down at the bed awaiting judgement.
"WHAT?"
"When were you gonna tell us this?!"
"Was he good?"
I nod in shame. "Yeah. Sorry, I kinda forgot, somehow. And yes, he's amazing." I smile at the memory of it. The girls oggle me. I suspect they took pity on me in my transformation into a lovesick fool and decided to lay off because they stopped teasing me.
"So are you gonna see him again?" Vicky asks gently. "Yes." I answer immediately and she smiles brightly at me. "Good" I hear Leyah say as she leaves my bed to find her own. "You deserve this Char." Vicky an Carrie find their way to the other half of the suite.
I just nod in thanks, not knowing how to respond. "Okay guys, don't get all soft on me now." I try to pull myself together and get things back to normal.
"No, I believe you're the soft one." Leyah shot back. "Wahtever, I-" I start with her, but am interrupted by my cell phone ringing in my pocket. Looking at the caller ID, I say "Oh that's him now.", sweetly and picked up the call a bit too quickly. Stupid, stupid Char.
"Hey Jay." I greet him in the sweetest, most alluring voice I can muster at the moment, ignoring the gagging noises Leyah is making next to me.
"Hey there. I'm just getting in, wanted to let you know and see what we could work out about this photo shoot."
"Oh yes! Give me a second." I press the reciver of the phone to my chest and turn to the girls. "When are you all free to do the photo shoot with J-Hope?"
"I'm free whenever." Leyah droans.
"Yeah, me too." Vicky says.
"So I'm hearing tomorrow? Carrie?" I ask to make things official. Carrie doesn't speak for a couple moments and then utters "Um...I have a date tomorrow." Her eyes are everywhere, but on the girls and I start to get confused by her behavior.
We just gushed, literally gushed, over my date with J-Hope. We abolished our ban on romance and we are allowed to date again. So what's making Carrie act so preserved about it?
The silence passes as I congratulate her, not knowing what else to do I say, "Carrie, that's great!"
"Yeah, bro it's okay. We'll do it another time." Leyah adds. But Carrie still has that deer caught in the headlights look frozen on her face.
"So who is this guy, what's his name?" Its my turn to be nosey.
"...Her name is Roselin."
"Oh." Is my immediate reaction to her words. After that the girls are all silent. Not because we disapprove of her choice, but because we never knew Carrie was remotely into girls.
"That's great!" I say, awkwardly breaking the silence once again. "I'm so happy for you." Leyah and Vicky are quick to murmur in agreement.
Carrie gives a hint of a smile. "Thanks guys." she whispers, still looking down. "So I'm hearing Monday at noon?" Each of the girls nods and I relay the message to J-Hope. "That sounds perfect actually. I'll send you the address and details tonight. Oh and bring your equipment if you can."
"Okay, yeah sure. We can do that." Making a note to tell Kyle and Darren they actually had to do something in two days.
"Cool." J-Hope answers smoothly.
"Hey, thank you so much again for doing this, the girls and I really appreciate it." I stressed over the phone.
"Hey, don't even worry about it Char. I'm happy to do this for you." He assured "...and maybe your band too." He finished, making me chuckle. "Like I said, I really appreciate it Jay." I say dragging out my words in, hopefully, a seductive manor. Maybe I will repay him for his generosity in some other way, who knows. I can hear him let out a huff of air and I can just see his smug smile. "Oh. Ha. It's nothing." "Well, I'm gonna turn in now, so I'll see you on Monday?" I ask. "Yes you will. Goodnight, Charlotte." His sweet, deep voice drawled. "Goodnight, Jay."
+++++++++++++++++++++++
J-Hope had given me the address to an apartment building full of lofts that were apparently for sale. We were instructed to take the equipment to first floor of the building. We drug our instruments through the corridor that lead to the first loft in the complex and I was so impressed with and in awe of the scene we were met with after walking through the unlocked door that lead to our photo shoot.
The structure of the loft itself was beautiful. It was a spacious warehouse style with hard wood floors, concrete walls, a high ceiling and was only made up of the one room apart from the bathroom. The room was incredibly spacious and had a high ceiling to accommodate the fire escape-like steps that lead to the second-half-floor. I'd never seen anything like it in person. Not to mention the glorious sight of multiple white backdrops and lights in every corner with people to man them.
"Whoa." Is all I uttered as I walked further into the room, my friends behind me. "Yeah." Leyah weighed in.
I spot J-Hope talking to a pretty lady in a suit who looks to be in her mid-thirties, that beautiful camera in hand. He notices me at nearly the same time, smiling that blinding smile immediately in greeting. He looks breath taking in all black, bomber jacket, ripped jeans, pumas and all. His black hair parted down the middle, barely exposing his forehead and drawing attention to adorable glasses resting comfortably on his nose. God, is anyone else seeing this?
"Charlotte!" He approaches us, the lady he was talking to following behind him. "Jay!" I return his enthusiasm. Letting his camera hang around his neck, he leans in to peck me surprisingly on the cheek and grabs my guitar case from my hands in one fluid motion. I'm officially frozen to my spot in embarrassment and shock. He doesn't seem to notice as he greets the rest of the group.
"Hello everyone. This is Janice Bailey, this is actually her building." J-Hope explains. I unfreeze and promptly reach for Janice's hand to shake it. "It's nice to meet you. Thank you so much for letting us use this space. I'm Char." I say shaking her hand a little to wildly. "It's nice to meet you all as well. And I simply owed Hoseok a favor, this was him calling it in. I only wish to observe today's events." So that's how you say his name.
"If that's okay with you all." J-Hope looks over the group for objections, as do I. "Yeah, of course. It's fine." I assure them. "Great! You guys can set up whatever you need to against that backdrop over there." He said pointing to the largest backdrop of them all. I gently grip J-Hope's jacket before he can help She-Bang, Darren and Kyle to set up the drum set and keyboard. "What is all this Jay?" I whisper to him. "What?" He looked down at me with a clueless expression on his face. I just tilt my head to the right and lift my right brow. "This."
I gesture to our surroundings. I start to count the people in the room that seem to be helping with the shoot. There are six. One man is helping the group put together the instruments, one man is finishing setting up the backdrops, a woman is checking the lighting, another man seems to be already editing test photos and the last man and woman are stood at the back of the room talking over coffee. The woman excuses herself from the conversation to search through a crate of some sort that looks chuck full of makeup products. That's when I notice the coffee, donuts and other goodies along the wall near the bathroom. My jaw drops.
"Is that a makeup artist?" I ask incredulously. J-Hope pauses before responding. "I just wanted to be prepared." He sighed. "But you all showed up looking beautiful as always." He brushes the back of his fingers against my cheek and I deflate, all feelings of anxiety vanishing from my body at once. I sigh as well.
"You really didn't need to do all this." I remind him, wondering why someone would do all this for me.
"I wanted to. It's nothing really." He shakes his head drops his hand down to my arm before giving it a gently squeeze. I glance up at him in awe. "Thank you." I say for the thousandth time. He just nods and leads me to the rest of the band at the larger backdrop. As I turn around my eyes meet Darren's focused ones, he immediately looks away with a clenched jaw and furrowed eyebrows.
Right. Almost forgot about Darren's pure hatred for J-Hope. Please God, let this go well.
J-Hope carefully took Bruce, my guitar, out of it's case and handed it to me and then handed the case to one of his staff...Friends? Employees? Is he paying them for this?! I feel uneasiness rise in me once again. This all too much. I know he said he wouldn't charge us, but I could never pay him back for this. On the other hand, as I look around I realize I've never had anyone go to this length to impress or even make me happy. Darren breaks me out of my trance.
"You okay, Char?" he asks, from the sidelines of the drop to my left. My head cocks in his direction and I sigh before replying "Yes.", trying to reassure myself as well. He just nods, unconvinced.
"Okay guys!" An energetic J-Hope grabs my attention next. "While Leyah is sitting at the drum set and everyone has their instruments, why don't we get some somewhat candid shots?" The girls and I nod in understanding. My hands fly to a familiar chord on my guitar so that I look more natural. We even have some amps set up in the front and back to look more authentic.
J-Hope starts taking pictures frantically from different angles and the girls and I look at the camera fiercely, kind of loving the attention after a few moments I look passed the camera to J-Hope in awe. It's downright impressive to watch him in his zone and easy to see why he's in his position.
He knows how to get a specific reaction from his clients and knows how to capture their best sides, even though there are four of us, going as far as instructing some of us to pose specifically to get a good vantage point.
We immediately lock eyes when he looks up from the camera to us to gather himself and his next approach. He smiles fondly at me and I'm forced to drop my gaze to the floor and smile stupidly. Dumb ass.
"Charlotte." My eyes immediately flip up to meet J-Hope's, awaiting further instruction. "Could you possibly tilt your head to the left and jut your chin out the slightest bit?" I ponder his request in my head with a confused expression and attempt the position he just described.
"More out." He demanded. Attempt #2. I try to follow the order I've been given.
"No, like more natural. He offers, even trying to pose himself to serve as example. Okay, attempt number three. "Uh...No." He gives up and approaches me. Modelling is hard. J-Hope reaches me with his arms stretched out towards me, but pauses.
"May I?" He asks with curious eyes. I can only assume he's asking if he can touch my face and I accept.
He takes hold of my chin with his thumb and index finger with a gentle grip and redirects my head to fit his vision. His attention goes lower and to my chest and my eyebrows sky rocket until I see he actually means to adjust my jacket caught under my guitar strap. It is then that I realize I would not give a fuck if J-Hope were actually checking out my cleavage right now and I'm actually shocked and kind of offended that he isn't. The fuck?
He then makes his way back up like he's studying me for any detail out of place. His eyes lock on the hair hanging against my face and he reaches up rearrange the strand, but as he finishes we make eye contact once more. We've only been this close with each other three other times and this time I really took the time to appreciate how actually beautiful this man is up close. What is his damn skin routine?!
I hear someone clear their throat off to side, breaking me out of my trance and I realize J-Hope and I have been staring at each other that entire time. Great. J-Hope clears his throat as well, but out of embarrassment.
J-Hope continues on with the shoot just as professional as ever before making a wonderful request to Leyah. "Leyah, can you actually play the drums for a little bit?" Leyah shrugs her shoulders and plays a simple groove and Vicky decides to add a fitting baseline. Carrie and I follow suit because we can't let half the group have a jam session by themselves.
After a few minutes I'm not even worried about the camera because this place has the best acoustics I've ever heard and I finally feel totally comfortable.
J-Hope then had us move to the second backdrop across the loft without the instruments to take group shots. Leyah took full advantage of this opportunity to annoy me to no end without the consequence of me beating her ass because we're in public, but it made everyone else laugh and J-Hope wouldn't stop snapping photos so we must be doing something right.
Soon J-Hope ran the photos by us and we deemed the shoot successful and done. He's even agreed to spread the word about us to his celebrity friends. Not sure how seriously the rest of the group took that statement, but I held fast to that promise and am incredibly thankful. One of J-Hope's staff saves the pictures on a flash drive and the girls go to get the instruments packed up along with Darren and Kyle as I approach J-Hope.
"Jay, thank you again. This means so much to us." I say for umpteenth time. He just smiles at the floor before gazing up at me with kind eyes. "Don't mention it Charlotte, really. I actually had a lot of fun today. I actually took some video too, of the jam session if you're interested in that." he offers.
"Thank you. Yeah, no kidding. You were...amazing today." Damn, just suck his dick right here, why don't you?
J-Hope looks genuinely humbled by my compliment. "Thank you so much Charlotte. Maybe the roles can be reversed in the future." He proposed suggestively. "Whatever I take wouldn't be able to touch this, but sure." I accept, as I would any opportunity to learn from J-Hope. He pulls a face and says "I'm sure they would be incredible." He grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. This kid is really into skin ship, which is more than I'm used to, but I can't see myself complaining.
Just let it happen Char.
"Hey, what are you doing for the rest of the day?" He brings his hand to wrap around my waist and rest on my lower back, only his camera between us. Hopefully you.
"Nothing, why?" I look up at him with hopeful eyes.
"How about an early dinner?" He invites licking his lips.
"I would love that." I answer more to his lips than to him. I assume I've been caught because he chuckles at my response and completely takes me by surprise when he pecks my lips. If I could blush I would, but instead I smile like an idiot as he lifts his hand to my shoulder and leads me over to my waiting group of friends.
"I'm gonna stick around here with Jay, you guys can go without me." Darren nods with a tired expression and exits the loft without a word, carrying the kick drum, symbols and one amp. Everyone looks at the exit for a few moments before returning our attention each other.
"Okayyy. Thank you for today J-Hope, you're a real one." Leyah says nodding and sporting a genuine smile. Vicky and Carrie follow suit and gives their thanks as well.
"It was no trouble at all ladies. You all did great work today." He responds, giving my shoulder a ginger squeeze. And smiling at the floor like an idiot becomes my permanent stance. How can someone make someone feel this stupid and good about themselves all at the same time?
"We'll see you at the hotel Char." The girls and Kyle say their goodbyes on their way out the door and then its just me, J-Hope and his crew.
"Okay, I have to stick around for a bit and get everything packed up before we can go." He explains. "That's okay I'll help out." I reply. J-Hope gives me an appreciative look and then nods. "Thanks, Charlotte." I help Jay and his crew clean up the drops, lights, tables and stands and snack on the provided donuts. I even take some for the girls because there are still so many left. I thank the crew for all their hard work today and soon I'm being escorted into J-Hope's car on our way to dinner.
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Furiends Episode 10: Birth of Heroes
The morning sun lights the entire town square up. Several colorful canvas tents are set up for today’s event; Marketplace Monday, which is an event where many small and big businesses come together to promote their products and services around the public space in front of city hall. Team Rescuers stand before the crowd of people, searching around the perimeter as they remain back from the event.
“Pretty crowded today,” comments Kenji. “A lot of people at Marketplace Monday.”
“Perfect for our plan,” Jay tells him. “Mom should be set up about now.”
“Remind me again on what’s happening,” asks Miffy.
Jay lowers his tone to a whisper. “Mom has gone to place some explosives under the square. They’re set to go off soon. Once that happens, we’ll go in and save the day.”
“Interesting,” Cindy says. “And how does this relate to the flawed brats?”
“Mom has fabricated some pieces apparel, based on their wears. She has planted them with the bombs. After we “save” everyone from the explosions, we look around and fish them out, showing everyone what a dastardly deed they’ve done.”
“There’s children and families in the square, though,” Miffy utters. “Won’t they be badly hurt or killed?”
The wolf darts his eyes at her. “Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices to get what you truly want, even if it means innocent people die.” He fixes his eyes on the square. “Once all of this goes off, those brats will be run out of town and never be heard of again. We’ll also make sure the whole world knows what they do. Get ready!” The four animals wait, keeping their eyes on the bustling fair as animals, tall and small, go from stall-to-stall. Several seconds go by, and yet not a single explosion can be seen.
Cindy looks to her companion. “So, what am I supposed to see here? Are they going off anytime soon?”
Jay shakes his head. “I-I don’t understand… They should’ve detonated by now… What’s happening?”
“Are you sure she set them up in the square?”
“She told me so this morning… How could she-”
“Hey, Jay,” Miffy interrupts. “Why are you on T.V.?” The wolf stops and looks at the flatscreen television overlooking the square, as does the crowd. His eyelids pull back as wide as they can be while watching himself talk to the hooded figure on the screen. His conversation continues to carry on with the cloaked being as they explain their plan for the orphanage and about setting up the friends. “What?!” Everyone in the watches with shock; their eyes wide-opened like the wolf. He and the team run into the center of the square with his glare still on the television. People in the audience point to him and accuse him of treachery.
“Listen,” Jay utters. “I can assure you, whatever is going on is some kind of trick. That all isn’t true!”
“Oh, it’s all true!” yells a voice. Everyone turns and traces the voice to the fox, who stands in front of the government building in blue goggles with matching-color cape, gloves, and tights. His paws positioned on his hips. “Team Rescuers are nothing but frauds and deceivers! They’re not concerned for anything; not your wellbeing, your safety, your wants and needs, but take their own desires more seriously.”
“Flawed Fox!” Jay takes a step forward, clenching his paws with aggression. “Why you-”
Emmy appears by Zach’s side, wearing her goggles, purple tank top vest with the same color gloves, but with darker-colored pants and belt. “They were going to blow up the square, along with all of you in it, and then put the blame on us to persuade you all that we were nothing but terrorists. That way, you’d run us out of town or even kill us!” The crowd gasps in shock.
“Are you kidding me?” Miffy asks.
“Afraid not,” shouts the brown cat, making herself visible on the fox’s other side. She dons a black jumpsuit with blue lines to highlight it, along with blue goggles. “They weren’t acting alone, either! They had a lot of help from the headmaster of the orphanage! It was very clear she, along with your “favorite hero team” were going to attack many innocent beings.”
Niji zooms by the warthog’s side with Eren jumping from his back. The rainbow-haired wolf has a mask to cover only his eyes, a blue shirt with a red and yellow ‘w’ on it, steel-blue pants, and red gloves while the deer covers himself in a grey hood and mask, along with a white and lavender sweat jacket and grey shorts buckled by a golden belt. Niji sets a pile of explosives he’d been carrying down. “Man, these things would’ve caused a massive number of casualties. We wouldn’t want that to happen, would we?”
“No indeed,” Eren adds. He takes out his wrench. “Best to make them all into scrap.” He whacks the bombs with his tool, changing them all to nothing but metal in one hit, dazzling the people.
“We were able to stop your horrific plan just in time,” Zach claims. “You could’ve killed innocent people and children.”
“Flawed Fox!” utters Jay, pulling out a radio. “You didn’t think ahead with that, though! Come in, Mom. Those brats are here!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Wolf,” shouts Navy, flying in and landing on her feet, showing off her costume which consists of pink mask and cape and a ring on her right wing, as well as a white pouch around her waist. “Your mother won’t be helping you out right now. She’s all tied up…”
The newt stomps in with the robed figure in his arms, then sets her down in front, showing the headmaster constrained in a set of ropes in her arms. His white jumpsuit with red lines are the opposite of Carly’s suit. His mouth and nose remain covered by a red mask. “One villain down, four more to go.”
“You’re not going to get away with faking anymore!” yells Emmy. “It’s time to come forward and accept your fate!”
“Yeah!” shouts Eren. “Your days of lying to people are over.”
“What would you all know about being heroes?” Cindy cries. “You don’t have what it takes to be courageous and cunning!”
“We are better than you, though!” shouts Carly. “We don’t go after harmless civilians and blame a group of unfortunate animals! You lot are too unethical to be called heroes!”
“I’ve had enough of this!” Jay sharpens his claws. The friends ready themselves, equipping their weapons and getting into fighting stances. “You will never beat us!”
“We shall determine that!” Zach retaliates. Jay immediately goes for the fox, but Zach blocks his attacks with his metal staff. Emmy pushes the wolf away and joins Zach, but soon Jay is aided by the monkey. Cindy and Miffy go after the bird and the newt. The four intertwine in engagement with fists, leaving Eren and the cat to struggle with keeping the headmaster contained. Niji helps guide the spectators of away from the area for safety before joining in the battle. The square stirs into chaos as the battle endures. tables are thrown and tossed around, tents are torn with animal claws, the sounds of clinging metal and shouting deafens other noises. The animals try to gain the upper hand on each other. Zach whacks the wolf away with his staff.
Jay growls. “I am impressed, Fox. But whacking me away will not do you any good!”
“There’s more where that came from, Jacob!” Zach responds. The wolf charges toward him, but Zach remains still. As Jay is three feet before him, the fox swings his staff at him, knocking the wolf into a fountain. Jay is quick to stand and charge toward the fox again. He is no match with Zach as he uses his mind to predict when the wolf will strike. Zach jumps into the air, then comes back down with his weapon against Jay’s head, knocking him down to the floor. The fox stands by his face and looks upon him. “You didn’t account for my new abilities.” He turns to see Emmy struggling with Kenji as he sways his tail at her. Zach runs over and kicks the monkey in the face, knocking him away. The fox then turns to the warthog. “You good?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Emmy replies. The two notice Kenji getting back up and holding out a wooden staff. “Uh oh!” The two animals prepare to battle him.
However, Niji zooms by and smacks him with his paw, causing the monkey to fly and hit the tent ahead, knocking him out. Niji looks to the two. “I’m sorry, Fellas. Did I steal your target?”
Zach smiles. “Not at all.”
Navy dodges some punches thrown by the cat. “Whoa! Nice kitty!”
“You dumb bird!” shouts Miffy. “You and your flawed friends will pay!”
“Don’t ever call me dumb!” The bird flaps her wings rapidly to push away the cat with her ability. Miffy gets up fast, then runs to her.
Carly immediately steps in, catching her in midair with her telekinesis, then drops her to the ground. “Man, you are one mean cat!” Miffy gets back to her feet. “Uh oh!”
“I’ll let you deal with her!” Navy changes into her lizard form to fight the sheep.
Carly quickly paints something in front of her. The beige cat pounces, but slams right into a wall spawned by Carly. Miffy struggles to stand, soon closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep. The brown cat paints again, this time, some rope around her to keep Miffy in place. “That’ll teach you.” She is then smacked by Navy’s lizard tail. “Yow! Hey!”
“Sorry!” Navy tells her. “Just a bit distracted!” She evades the sheep’s attacks. “Whoa! You’re very feisty for a sheep!”
“You are so ugly as a lizard!” responds Cindy.
“Am I?” Navy then changes back to her bird form. “This better?” Cindy comes at her. “Oh!” The bird flaps her wings fast, creating a small tornado that gobbles Cindy and spins her around quickly. Once the tornado dissipates, the sheep stands, but wobbles. She sets her eyes on the bird and charges again, but her dizziness causes her to stumble. Navy places her foot on her back to ensure she stays down while Carly paints restraints on her hooves.
The headmaster pushes Eren off and knocks Silus back to stun them, then goes to pick up a wooden stake. She cuts herself free, then points it at Zach. “I will kill you for this, Flawed Fox!” She runs toward Zach with the wooden stake, but her attack is blocked by Emmy’s sword. The hooded figure tries desperately to hit the warthog, but when Zach aides her, the two repel her in an instant, disarming her weapon and kicking her back into a stone wall. The headmaster then takes the stake and throws it at them. Time slows for everyone except Eren, who walks over, faster than everyone else, and catches the stake in the air. The headmaster gets back up in anger and charges at them again, but is stopped by Silus, who stands in the way and grabs her hands with two of his own, then lifts her off the ground and tosses her at a nearby tent.
Eren reaches for his wrench and hits the little shelter, turning it into a jail cell for her. “There, that should hold her.”
“I… I can’t believe it…” Zach looks down at his paws, then at Team Rescuers. “I… I just saved people… I actually saved people!” A smile occupies his face. “I AM A HERO!”
“WE are heroes,” Emmy implies. “WE saved everyone in the square.” She gives him a smile. Zach reflects her expression and nods.
“Yeah!” cheers Niji. “We did it!” Navy joins him in celebrating.
“Hooray!” Eren shouts. Silus quickly picks him up and hoists him in the air. “Whoa! Hehe.” He then sets him back down.
“They won’t be deceiving and hurting people anymore,” Carly says. “Not after we exposed them for who they really are. People have now seen them for what they really are.”
Zach approaches the restrained hooded figure. “Looks like the tables have turned, Headmaster…”
“You!” the headmaster calls out. “I will get you for this, Flawed Fox!”
“That’s all you ever saw me as,” Zach says. “You and everyone else in Heroto, all because of my biological parents and disorder…”
“I didn’t care about what you did!” she cries. “But when you harassed my son and his friends, you went too far!”
“No, Headmaster… YOU went too far when you started attacking innocents and blamed everything on us… Putting me down was all you’ve ever done for me… I fell down and lied on the ground for some time, but then Emmy stood before me with Carly, Niji, Eren, Silus, and Navy. She offered her hoof to me, so I took it, and I got back up. My friends are amazing, and we will continue to fight off anyone who messes with us.” Zach turns away and sighs.
Emmy looks at him. “You okay, Zach?”
“I-I’m fine…” Zach puts his paw on his head. “I’m just a little empty that’s a-…” His eyes widen as he puts his arm down. “Empty… That’s what it is… All my life I’ve been dubbed a “flawed fox”, however, I faced my darkest fears, and now I’m not worried about that anymore, or afraid…”
Eren pulls up beside the fox, wrapping his arm around his back for comfort. “You aren’t a flawed fox, Zach. You are more of a “fantastic fox”.”
“Fantastic fox,” Zach repeats. “Such an interesting name for a superhero. I am Fantastic Fox! Hero of Heroto!” He looks to Eren. “You know, you were pretty courageous and daring to do everything that’s happened today.” Eren smiles and thanks him. “However, you like to manipulate time and speed. How’s the name “Quick Pause”?”
“Quick Pause?!” Eren utters. “I… I like that name. No, I love it.”
Zach then looks to Emmy. “What should we call you, Emmy?”
Emmy puts her hoof on her chin. “How’s Acroswine? You think it’s a good name?”
“Suits you,” Navy spurts. “Oh! I want to be called Feather-Morph! Because I change into anything I want!”
“Sweet,” comments Niji. “Hm, I’m not sure about my name.”
“Why don’t we call you Werewonder?” asks Emmy. “I know you’re a fast, but also a wolf.”
“I think I’ll stick with that name.”
“Hm,” Carly thinks, holding her brush up. “Not sure what to call myself. I do love this paintbrush a whole lot.”
“I’m thinking “Palette Cat”,” Niji tells her. “Good for an artistic superhero like you.” The cat smiles.
“Eren, Honey,” Silus starts. “How bout you give me a good superhero name? What should I be called?”
“Um…” Eren rubs the back of his head. “I’m not sure… You do have immense strength… Is “Mightymander” okay with you?”
“No,” Silus responds. “It’s not okay with me. It’s GOOD for me, and it fits my abilities. Thanks, Quick Pause.” Eren’s smile grows bigger.
“Well,” Zach starts. “Seems like this is the beginning of new lives for us. Fighting crime and maintaining peace.”
“It sure is,” Emmy tells him. “Sure is.”
@carlycmarathecat @emmy-the-absolute-goof @rainbow-strike @ask-choro-mama @pink-unicorn-blood
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Hiya folks welcome back, I'm home now after a week away. It was an awesome time all systems were working untill the EE MAST stopped on Thursday lol. So It's Trivia Time Here D.Y.K What Happened on the 20th April?. . In 1951 MIT "Whirlwind" Computer Is Seen on Television, MIT demonstrates its Whirlwind machine on Edward R. Murrow's See It Now television series. Project director Jay Forrester describes the computer as a "reliable operating system," running 35 hours a week at 90-percent utility using an electrostatic tube memory that stores up to 2,048 16-digit words. The machine used 4,500 vacuum tubes and 14,800 diodes, taking up a total of 3,100 square feet. . On this Day in 1998 Windows 98 is Plug and … Whoa?, During the COMDEX Spring ’98 and Windows World shows in Chicago, a public demonstration of the soon-to-be released Windows 98 goes awry when Bill Gates’ assistant causes the operating system to crash after plugging in a scanner. Instead of showing the plug-and-play capabilities they were trying to demonstrate, a “Blue Screen of Death” is visible by the entire audience which immediately erupts in laughter. After several seconds, Bill Gates famously responded, “That must be why we’re not shipping Windows 98 yet. . 2009 Oracle Purchases Sun Microsystems, Oracle announces they have purchased Sun Microsystems in a $7.4 billion dollar deal. This includes stock at $9.50 / share. That would also be the acquisition of SPARC processors, Solaris OS, Java and MySQL, among other items. The deal would be finalized on January 27th 2010. . Don't forget pop along to wifeidge.uk an stock up on those beauty & skincare products. Tell Wifeidge I sent yah 😉👍. . Thats All For Today Thanks for reading. . TerrierByteIT, Keeping You Connected!!. . ☎️ telephone:️ 07759 552599 . 📧 e-mail: [email protected] . 🕸️ web:️ www.terrierbyteit.uk . 🌝📚 www.facebook.com/TerrierByteIT . . . . #TerrierByteIT #Wifeidge #wifeidge.uk #Younique #computerhistory #computer #technology #history #computerscience #tech #computerhistorymuseum #computers #retro #vintage #retrotech #trivia #oldtechnology #techhistory #technologyhistory #computinghistory #oldcomputer #oldschool #information https://www.instagram.com/p/BwfhYPtAHD9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12d8txv56pl6t
#terrierbyteit#wifeidge#younique#computerhistory#computer#technology#history#computerscience#tech#computerhistorymuseum#computers#retro#vintage#retrotech#trivia#oldtechnology#techhistory#technologyhistory#computinghistory#oldcomputer#oldschool#information
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Harry Interview Tag.
@sophism tagged me to do this, thanks Soph! xx sorry, I left this late as well.
01: David Bowie once said that “Creativity is like wading out into the ocean. You wade out to the point where you can’t touch the bottom, you’re a little scared, and that’s where you do your best work.” Do you agree?
Sort Of. I think that describes the kind of creativity where the ideas are manifested from within our authentic human experience in terms of the things we’ve gone through rather than the things you observe? like you can literally take inspiration from anything and everything, so depending on how emotionally tied you are to what’s inspiring the work you’re creating, it can seem like that quite often. but to say in general that it feels like that? idk, I’m not too sure hahaha.
02: We all know addiction is an illness that affects so many people, so why do you think it is still cloaked in so much secrecy and shame?
there’s a lot to say on this but at the same time, I don’t think I’m in the position to really say so? yeah.
03: Do you ever get a moment to yourself to take it all in, and realise just how amazing this is?
yeah... it’s weird talking about it to other people but I’ll look at the clouds sometimes but like *really* look at them? in its depth and all like they’re right there!! (you know that tweet about how things sound smart until you say it out loud, yeah that’s how I feel rn lol)
04: Do you feel pressure to be political in this day and age?
not necessarily. I think it’s become quite mundane for us to care about politics in this day and age. that being said, there’s maybe a pressure to be vocal about it? yeah.
05: Today there are so many more ways for us to be engaged. I think that’s the main positive of social media, but there’s also a lot that I find super dangerous about social media. I’m interested to hear what you think? The good and the bad…
I tell everyone that it’s great to connect with others, and it’s dangerous to rely on it as a means of instant gratification. There’s not really anything more to contribute to the conversation, we’ve pretty much figured it out. It can be a form of communication, a learning tool, a bridge to many opportunities, some kind of escapism from our mundane or a numbers game. I’ve learned to keep social media adjacent to my life rather than have it be integral cos it feels better that way for me personally. I will say though, that the way I see it or use social media ... like it can be seen as so, but it doesn’t have to be the “mature” way, like you can use social media however you’d like to. I don’t really know where to go from here so I’ll just shush now hahaha.
06: Are you excited about the future? And I mean your future, not the future of humanity or anything like that.
I’m neutral about it.
07: What do you worry about now?
my family back home, my cousin who’s like a sister to me (she’s in Hong Kong right now for 6 weeks), if I’ll ever be as independent as I was back home. weirdly enough, the Grammy Nominations coming up soon, those who are affected by the fires happening around Queensland and LA as well as those who are trying to control them like the firefighters, etc. , what Rei Kawakubo’s direction of the latest collection tells us about the future of CDG lol I’m prone to worrying about random things sometimes.
08: If you were told you were only allowed to listen to one song, watch one movie, read one book and talk to one person for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
it’s hard to pick just one. I’d say... for now - Come Out and Play by Billie Eilish, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, The Artisan Soul by Erwin McManus and probs myself idk cos i can write letters to everyone else right?
09: What’s your go to karaoke song?
Sometimes by Britney Spears or I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston (ambitious I know but I think that’s part of the fun hahaha)
10: New York or LA?
I haven’t been to either but new york :)
11: Football or basketball?
... but they’re both great...
12: Favourite TV show?
I’m gonna sound like such a nana saying this but either Golden Girls or any of the Grand Designs series.
13: Kobe or LeBron?
Lebron.
14: What do you wear in bed?
trackies with either a jumper or a t-shirt and a knitted cardi.
15: Jay-Z or Beyoncé?
Beyoncé
16: Last text you sent?
“whoa calm I wasn’t gonna ask you to bury a body or anything”
17: Guilty pleasure?
at this point in life, I’m not ashamed of anything I’m interested in tbh.
18: Have you seen Big Mouth?
I think I’ve watched the first season and... it’s quite something hahaha
19: Where’s your happy place?
I have three - on the couch at home, alongside the city where the water meets or the shoreline along the beach.
20: What is the meaning of life?
In physics, there’s a theory or something where it stated the idea that the electrons in an atom don’t necessarily exist until there’s some kind of collision or connection. So... I have no idea what the meaning of life is, but I know it has something to do with connections and collisions and how they contribute to the final picture, or product or some completed understanding of something a rather hahaha
#this was fun#but man i'd bore the crap out of harry hahaha#again#sorry that i left this so late#tagged#Harry Styles
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First Rule of Game Night
Summary: This is Part Seven of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.
Part One was Oopsie Baby which you can read here.
Part Two was Promises Kept which you can read here.
Part Three was Stop Adopting My Friends which you can read here.
Part Four was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie which you can read here.
Part Five was Now Kiss! which you can read here.
Part Six was Where There's a Will which you can read here.
Part Seven is a little slice of life fic that I thought would be a good follow up after how emotional Part Six was. Bex brings Will to his first game night and there are shenanigans.
Rating: Teen Audiences and Up
Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz, Jay Halstead/Erin Lindsay,
Warnings: Competitive game play??
A/N: I'll post the link to the ao3 page at the bottom. This story has not only an OC character, but some quirky elements which may or may not be everyone's jam. Just FYI. Also - this is going to be the last update for a bit, but I will definitely be returning to add to this series.
First Rule of Game Night
Will
Will and Bex were stopped in front of Jay’s door when Bex put a hand on his arm.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Bex, why do you keep asking me that?” he laughed. “It’s a game night. How bad can it be?”
“First rule of game night,” Bex said solemnly. “Never underestimate how bad it can be.”
“Really selling it here,” he rolled his eyes at her. “Why do you guys keep having one if it always gets so crazy?”
“Half of them are too competitive to ever give up trying to win a game,” she said. “Not that we’ve ever finished one.”
“Wait, what—”
“And the rest of us just…can’t look away when it all crashes and burns,” she shrugged. “You want to look away. But you can’t.”
Will readjusted the pile of snack containers she’d loaded into his arms before they came upstairs. “Okay, I feel like this was important information before—”
The door swung open and Erin popped her head out. “Why are you guys standing out here? Come on already! It’s game night. Ooh, snacks.” She plucked the first container off the top of Will’s pile and headed back inside, leaving the door open for them to follow.
��Last chance,” Bex said to him, waggling her eyebrows.
Will stepped forward. “Seriously, how bad could it be?”
***
Bex
Everything had started out okay. Will was settled in and joking around with Mouse and Kevin while Adam and Kim got the table ready. Bex, Jay, and Erin were setting out the snacks.
Bex thought, maybe tonight, we’ll finish a game! Crazier things have happened.
They were trying out UNO. It was good for a larger group. There were no tiny, sharp pieces to throw. It felt like safe bet.
Until they started playing.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?” Adam held up a hand as Will went to place a second plus two card down.
“Playing my card,” Will said, pausing, card in hand. “It’s a plus two on a plus two. It matches.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Erin nodded at him and he dropped the card on the pile.
“No, you can’t,” Adam said. “That’s only for the regular number cards.”
“Since when?” Will asked. “Everyone stacks the plus twos.”
“Pretty sure it’s in the rules—” Adam began, but was cut off by Erin’s booing.
“We play by the universally understood rules,” she declared and then she and Will high fived without even looking at each other. “Pick up four, Ruzek.”
It went downhill from there when somehow every hand ended up with Adam having to pick up more cards and Erin and Will citing more ‘universally understood’ rules that they were definitely making up on the fly. Kim and Kevin abandoned the game four hands in for snacks and a movie in the living room.
Jay and Bex and Mouse backed away from the table when the cards started flying.
“You were hoping they would get along,” Bex shrugged at Jay as they watched a cackling Erin and Will pelt Adam with cards with the kind of fascinated horror well associated with game night.
“Yeah, but at what cost?”
She turned to Mouse on her other side. “So, we should probably add UNO to the no play list—”
“Already on it,” Mouse said, tapping away on his phone. “Although I think we could file it as a solid maybe. This is still better than what happened during Hedbanz.”
They both shuddered at the memory.
“Okay, yeah,” she agreed. “Put it on the maybe list.”
“No,” Jay yelled. “No. Put down the dip.”
“We should—” Mouse gestured at the melee in the kitchen.
“Join Kim and Kevin on the couch?”
“Yup.”
Click here to read Part Eight of the series: A Fun Fair, an Alleged Flirtation, and a New Living Arrangement
(Here is the link to read First Rule of Game Night on ao3.)
#chicago fire#chicago med#chicago pd#one chicago#christopher herrmann#jay halstead#will halstead#halstead brothers#oc character#rebecca 'bex' herrmann#halstead sister#sibling bonding#found family#team as family#fluff#alternate universe#not canon#not beta read#my first fanfic series#A Herrmann/Halstead Production
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